Chaplains across the US are reporting a significant increase in religious practice at college campuses, according to a report in today's New York Times. Students are being drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervour than college staff can ever remember.

There has been a 70 per cent increase in the number of single parent families in the State since 1997. According to a CSO report, there were 73,700 single parent families in 1997, while in 2006 there were 125,600 such families.

People who believe that religion has no part to play in public life “infringe on other people's rights” according to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Mr Ahern made the comments in response to a question from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny regarding the structured dialogue between the State and the Churches.

Nature is more important than nurture for a child's development, according to a new book by US psychologist Judith Rich Harris. Ms Harris, in a article in the latest edition of UK magazine Prospect, argues that genetic make-up has far more impact on how a child will turn out than the kind of parenting he or she receives.

Accord, the Catholic marriage counselling agency, have said that there is no demand for the recognition of prenuptial agreements. They were responding to a Government backed report, published yesterday, calling for prenuptial agreements to be formally recognised for the first time.

Children with religious parents behave better and are better adjusted than other children. That's according to a new study looking at the effects of religion on young child development. The research was carried out by sociologist John Bartkowski from Mississippi State University.

The vast majority of recently married couples are very happy with their marriages, according to a new poll commissioned by Accord, the Catholic marriage support service.

Women with better education and more career opportunities are delaying longer before having children, new census figures show. The most affluent area in the country, Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown in Co Dublin, now has the oldest first-time mums in the State with an average age of 30.9.

Probate lawyers say that the huge recent increase in divorce figures has led to sons and daughters of first, second and sometimes third marriages squabbling over wills. They are fighting each other, their dead father's second wives or even third wives and their half brothers and sisters.

A leading family solicitor has said that the state of current divorce law means that marriage is a potential pitfall for businesspeople or anyone with wealth because if they divorce, their original settlements can be challenged by former spouses sometimes years after the break up.

Hilary Coveney, of leading law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice, said “many commentators are of the view that the only safe advice to give any wealthy individual is not to marry under any circumstances”.

The comments, which appear in this month's edition of leading Irish business magazine Business Plus, come amid increasing concern about divorce settlements which are re-negotiated years after the original case is heard.

The magazine highlights one particular case, in which a supposedly “full and final settlement” was recently re-negotiated in the High Court. A woman, in receipt of an annual maintenance payment of €72,000 in respect of a divorce settlement, on top of 60 per cent of the value of the family home, returned to court, and received a new maintenance order, worth €90,000 pa, along with a lump sum of €400,000.

Furthermore, the court ordered that €1.25 million of the husband's pension fund should go to the wife, plus 10 per cent of the husband's shares in the family firm, though only as to entitlement to dividends and cash payments.

The new settlement was based on the fact that the husband's net worth was now €7.2 million, as compared to the wife's €0.9 million, and that his annual income had gone from €100,000 to €400,000. Justice Henry Abbot said that it would be unjust to allow the original settlement “to prevent the wife enjoying the better standard of living experienced in the country”.

Another top family lawyer, barrister Inge Clissmann SC, said that such cases showed that “full and final settlements” in the context of divorce were anything but full and final. Commenting on another case where a similar resettlement resulted from the fact that a father was likely to be embarrassed in front of his children due to the wealth gap between him and his former wife, she said that such reasoning was “another nail in the coffin of the full and final settlement clause”.

Such cases have led to calls from some, such as Fine Gael Senator Fergal Browne, for legislation to permit prenuptial agreements, so that wealth and assets can be properly protected in the wake of divorce. The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has promised to set up a study group to look at the issue.

Senator Browne has also suggested that cases such as these posed serious questions about Ireland's “no fault” divorce system. Situations where marriages break up after six months where the blameless spouse faces a claim for 50 per cent of their home from someone who has moved in with a new boyfriend or mistress need to be looked at, he said.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell has already expressed similar concerns. In a recent Seanad debate, Minister McDowell acknowledged that no fault divorce posed difficult and unaviodable questions. "If one person is manifestly responsible for the end of the marriage, should he or she profit for his or her actions or behaviour?" he asked.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has begun a multi million euro campaign to encourage parents to listen to their children. According to the HSE, the key aim of the campaign “is to encourage communication between children and adults”

The Catholic Church should accept a reduced role in primary schools, according to John Carr, the General Secretary of the Irish National Teacher's Organisation (INTO).

Almost one third of people binge drink before sex, according to a new survey into the link between casual sex and alcohol.

Britons are increasingly likely to live in single-parent families, according to new official figures. The Office for National Statistics said children in Britain are three times more likely to live in one-parent households now than they were in 1972.

A poll showing a marked decline in religious knowledge amongst young people, sponsored by the Iona Institute, received widespread coverage yesterday in both print and broadcast media. The poll was covered on RTE's 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock news. Various radio stations discussed the story during the day.

Toddlers who spend three days a week in day care are more likely to develop "anti-social" behaviour, research by the UK government has found.

One of Ireland's leading Constitutional experts, Professor Gerry Whyte of Trinity College, Dublin, has expressed serious concerns about the Government's proposed children's rights referendum. He said that he was “unsure we can improve on the current Constitutional formula” regarding the family. He was speaking at a debate last on the proposal sponsored by the Newman Soceity in UCD.

The number of divorced people has skyrocketed by almost 70 per cent since the last Census in 2002, according to the 2006 Census. There are now 59,534 divorced people in Ireland, compared 35,059 in 2002. This constitutes an increase of 69.2 per cent.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell is to set up a study group to analyse the issue of pre-marital provisions in the event of a marriage break-up, which Irish courts do not currently recognise.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has pledged to double the home carer's allowance from 770 to 1540 a week if re-elected. Mr Ahern made the promise in the course of his pre-election Fianna Fail Ard Fheis speech last Saturday. Fianna Fail are now the fourth party pledged to increasing the home carers allowance.