Ten per cent of all marriages in Ireland now involve at least one person who has been divorced, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). In addition, a majority of middle-aged people who marry, are marrying for a second time.

Young children, often from broken homes, are being recruited by Limerick's criminal gangs, according to a major new study.

The gangs are using children as young as eight to intimidate families who resist their control or are suspected of giving information to gardai, sometimes by burning them out of their homes.

The study, carried out by Dr Niamh Hourigan, a sociologist from UCC, found that the children being used by criminals were from “the most marginalised families”. Many of the children are from broken homes.
BR> Writing in The Irish Independent, Dr Hourigan wrote that parents in these families were “either absent or so deeply enmeshed in addiction that they are incapable of parenting”.

As such, these children were “ripe for grooming by these criminal gangs”.

Limerick city has the highest amount of marital breakdown in the country. Almost 20 per cent of all marriages have ended in separation or divorce. This compares with the national average of 13 per cent. Some areas of Limerick, such as Moyross, the extent of marital breakdown is up to 35 per cent, nearly three times the national average.

Moyross also has a high percentage of non-marital families, up to 40 per cent of all families. This compares to a national average of 21 per cent.

The report says criminal families in Limerick have in recent years recruited young boys and teenagers who are not biologically related to support their activities. "These recruits act, not only as agents of intimidation by engaging in campaigns of stone-throwing and window-breaking, but they are also used to transport drugs and guns.”

Dr Hourigan's forthcoming book, 'Understanding Limerick: Social Exclusion and Change', deals with gangs and other problems in the city.
BR> The reports follows on from remarks last year by Limerick Chief Superintendent Willie Keane who said that that many of the children involved in the gangs were coming from “families where there is no great parenting skills or where the skills are not what they should be".

Chief Superintendent Keane, speaking in April of last year, said these children had “no role models” in these families, and no sense of responsibility was instilled.

"Unfortunately these crime gangs are using young people and some of these young people come from dysfunctional families and families where there is no great parenting skills or where the skills are not what they should be," the chief superintendent said.

"The gang is the family for want of a better word and I suppose it gives these people a certain status within their own community and that is the problem and the cycle that we have to break,” he continued.

Earlier this year, Brendan Dempsey, the southern regional president of the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP), said that the absence of fathers was causing “huge problems” for many children.

Mr Dempsey said that increasingly, mothers were being left to raise children on their own. Nine out of 10 homes visited by the SVP on one housing estate in Cork, were run by single mothers, he said.

The effects on children were far-reaching, he continued. “There is a great need for children to have both parents, but it is not happening, there is a great want in these children,” said Mr Dempsey.

The Government's Civil Partnerships Bill, published today, reveals “a deeply flawed and poorly thought-out approach to family policy which undermines the special status of marriage,” according to The Iona Institute.

The Government's Civil Partnerships Bill, published today, reveals “a deeply flawed and poorly thought-out approach to family policy which undermines the special status of marriage,” according to The Iona Institute.

A planned code of conduct for UK teachers risks imposing a “test of professional commitment to secularism”, a leading employment lawyer says.

Christians are still giving generously to charity despite the economic downturn, a new poll shows.

The Church of England is set to attack the BBC in report which says that the corporation is treating Christianity like a ‘freak show’.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin is set to meet officials from the Department of Education soon to discuss his proposals to divest control of some Catholic schools, according to a report in the Irish Times.

EU leaders have agreed to provide the legal guarantees, including on abortion, the family and education, being sought by the Irish Government ahead of a planned re-run of the Lisbon Treaty referendum later this year.

A culture of broken relationships is scarring children and damaging society, a leading family judge warned on Tuesday.

Parental choice “must be at the heart of education policy”, according to Fine Gael's education spokesperson Brian Hayes. Speaking to the Irish Catholic newspaper, Mr Hayes said that there should be no “one-size-fits-all approach to educational provision”.

Half the children born outside wedlock in the third quarter of last year were to cohabiting couples, new figures show.

The right of parents to send their children to faith schools is recognised in the Constitution and cannot be brushed aside, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has said.

Guarantees protecting the Irish Constitution as regards family, abortion and education from aspects of the Lisbon Treaty, plus the accompanying Charter of Fundamental Rights, have been published by the Government ahead of a second referendum in the autumn.

If secularist opponents of faith schools think religion is “a busted flush” they should stop being afraid of its influence, writes the editor of the Times Educational Supplement (TES).

Ninety five per cent of Irish people still believe in God, according to a study launched in Maynooth this week.

Senator Rónán Mullen has challenged Ireland's EU partners to be true to their word and ensure that Ireland receives guarantees on family law and the right to life ahead of a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Ireland's Catholic bishops have reiterated their commitment to providing “Catholic schools to cater for the needs of parents who wish their children to have a Catholic education”.

Socialist parties across Europe were dealt a serious blow in European Parliament elections at the weekend, as the Socialist group in the parliament, the PSE, lost 20 MEPs throughout the EU.

A Catholic mother in the UK is taking legal advice after Brighton and Hove Council arranged to place her ten-year-old son with a homosexual foster couple.