Parents are financially better off if they split up under the current UK tax system, according to a new report.

New research shows that 44 per cent of people claim to know someone who has been the victim of domestic abuse. The survey, carried out on behalf of Cosc, a Government organisation mandated to prevent domestic, sexual and domestic violence, also showed most people were unwilling to intervene in situations of abuse if they related to someone outside their family or circle of friends.

Aggressive atheists have used the terrorist outrages of September 11 as an excuse to attack all religions, according to the former head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Lord Carey.

Children living with both biological parents or adoptive parents who attend religious services regularly are less likely to exhibit problems at school or at home, according to new research from the US.

The overwhelming majority of Irish people (92 per cent) believe that children have the right to be raised by a mother and father where possible, according to a new Red C poll commissioned by The Iona Institute.

Three international gay rights organisations are jointly urging the UN body that reviews implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to incorporate the radical “Yogyakarta Principles” in its recommendations.

Ireland is the EU country with the highest birth rate, according to new figures from Eurostat, the EU's official statistics body.

A UK atheist group has launched an advertising campaign on public transport across Britain.

Five Roman Catholic adoption agencies have decided to go against Catholic teaching and change their policies to allow applications from homosexual couples, after the coming into force on January 1st of the UK Government's new Sexual Orientation Regulation (SOR).

The absence of fathers in the lives of children is set to cause “huge problems”, according to Brendan Dempsey, the southern regional president of the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP).

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has criticised attempts by the Government to ensure that the European Union does not decide sensitive social issues.

The number of divorces granted has risen by a third between 2000 and 2007 and by six per cent in 2007 compared with 2006, according to figures released by the Courts Service. The statistics, published in the latest issue of Family Law Matters and reported in The Irish Times showed that there were 3,684 divorces granted in 2007, compared with 3,467 in 2006.

There was a seven per cent rise in divorces granted in the Circuit Court. It granted 3,658 divorces in 2007, compared with 3,420 in 2006. However, the High Court showed a significant decrease in the number of divorces granted in 2007. It granted 26 divorces, compared with 47 in 2006.

The High Court deals with divorce cases which involve significant assets.

The figures published in Family Law Matters also show that women initiate 60pc of divorces. According to the figures, 2,187 of those initiating divorces in 2007 were women, as against 1,471 men. This is in line with the international experience.

Women are even more likely again to seek judicial separation, with 1,190 of those seeking this remedy being women in 2007, as against 499 men.

The journal's figures demonstrate the introduction of divorce has not led to a fall in the number of judicial separations granted annually. In 2000 there were 998 judicial separations granted in the Circuit Court and in 2007 there were 1,167, with the figure fluctuating between 940 and 1,216 in the intervening years.

The number of judicial separations being granted in the High Court has fallen, from 27 in 2000 to 18 in 2007.

The figures show that the number of divorces being granted annually is rising steadily. There were 2,710 in 2000, and in 2004 the figure passed 3,000 for the first time, rising to 3,391 in 2005. This means that from 2000 to 2007 divorces granted rose by a third.

The publication also gives figures for family law applications in the District Court, which hears applications for custody of and access to children, maintenance, and domestic violence-related applications.

The figures show that 2,334 applications for access were granted in 2007 and 1,066 withdrawn or struck out, with 75 refused; 330 applications for custody were granted, with 441 withdrawn and 43 refused; and in 472 cases both custody and access were granted while 428 were withdrawn and 21 refused.

Maintenance orders were more likely to be granted, with 1,029 granted to married applicants and 1,981 to unmarried applicants (for their children) in 2007, as against 478 and 794 respectively being withdrawn.

Almost 2,000 unmarried fathers sought guardianship orders, but 653 withdrew their applications and 1,258 were granted. Fifty one were refused.

The figures also show a slight increase in the number of cases coming before the High Court under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, where a parent is accused of removing a child from his or her habitual residence without the consent of the other parent.

There were 45 such cases commenced under this convention in 2007, which resulted in 97 interim orders. More than one interim order can be given in any one case. This compares with 90 interim orders in 2006.

Regular attendance at Mass and other religious services cuts the risk of death by nearly 20 per cent among women aged 50 to 79, according to new research from the US.

Pope Benedict's Christmas address to the Curia which dealt, among other things, with marriage and the differences between the sexes, has been badly misquoted in a series of media outlets which claim the Pope suggested that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

A ruling that a Christian registrar, Miss Lillian Ladele, had been discriminated against by her Council when she objected to registering same-sex civil partnerships has been quashed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the UK.

Recapitalising familes "is an investment which comes with a guaranteed return", according to the Primate of All-Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady. In his Christmas message, the Cardinal said that, in order for future prosperity to built on more solid foundations, family and community life needed to be rebuilt.

The UK Government has admitted that children brought up within a marriage setting are better off than children brought up in cohabiting or single parent families.

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire has put a moratorium on new holiday displays, after an atheist sign placed next to a nativity scene sparked a controversy.

An unmarried sperm donor father in the UK whose son was taken away by his lesbian mother during family court proceedings has been permitted to ask publicly for his safe return after restrictions on identifying the parties was lifted.

More than a third of Britons continue to believe in the virgin birth, according to new poll commissioned by Theos, the public theology think tank.