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Council of Europe resolution "threatens religious freedom", says US group

A leading religious freedom campaigning organisation has warned that a Council of Europe resolution promoting homosexual rights poses a serious risk to religious freedom.

22/01/10
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Survey reveals high level of casual sex among young Irish

An Irish Examiner survey looking at the sexual behaviour of Irish 18-35 year olds has found that a massive 71 per cent in this age group have had at least one ‘one-night-stand’. while 11 percent have had 11 or more one-night-stands.

21/01/10
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Children’s amendment will give State more power of intervention in families

The Oireachtas committee proposing a children’s rights referendum will recommend an amendment that will lower the threshold for State intervention in the family.

21/01/10
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Department must make “definite call” on benefit, lone parent group says

A single parent campaign group has called for the Department of Social and Family Affairs to make a “definite call” on the age at which certain family income supports will cease.

21/01/10
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Government to offer HPV vaccine to 12-year-old girls

Up to 30,000 girls in first year in secondary school are to be offered a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), which is passed on through sexual contact, from later this year, Minister for Health Mary Harney has announced.

19/01/10
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Tax break for marriage will be "modest" under Tories, Cameron says

David Cameron has hinted that any Tory tax break for married couples will be modest, saying that the policy is aimed at sending a message to voters, not at changing their financial circumstances, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

19/01/10
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Dawkins "parading his own failure of imagination", says television presenter

A leading UK author and broadcaster has accused Richard Dawkins of “parading his own failure of imagination” by failing to consider the possible existence of God.

19/01/10
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Children must be taught how to say no to sex, says Cameron

Children would be taught how to say no to sex under a Conservative Government, David Cameron says.

Mr Cameron believes changes should be made to the school curriculum to include lessons about sexual consent, with an emphasis on “empowering” young people to say no to sex.

Under the current Labour Government the new Children, Schools and Families Bill would make sex and relationship education (SRE) compulsory in all schools.

The Bill would also remove the right for parents to take their children out of the sex education lessons from age 15.

In June a family charity urged parents to be “vigilant” about compulsory sex education lessons in primary schools.

The Family Education Trust produced a 52-page guide for parents, entitled Too Much Too Soon: The government’s plans for your child’s
sex education.

Norman Wells, the author of the report, said that despite the increasing availability of sex education over the past three decades, problems such as teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections have simply got worse.

“Ignorance is not the problem”, he said, and suggested that the real culprit may be too much information.

One study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that 93 per cent of teenagers who became pregnant had seen a health professional in the previous year, and 71 per cent had discussed contraception.

The study concluded: “Teenagers who become pregnant have higher consultation rates than their age matched peers, and most of the difference is owing to consultation for contraception.”

In July a national columnist said handing out condoms and ever-increasing levels of sex education is like repeatedly giving someone a headache pill that doesn’t work.

“Still the pain continues, so you give them two more and then a specially strong one, refusing to accept the evidence in front of your eyes that the treatment is simply not working,” Yasmin Alibhai-Brown wrote.

“Yet that’s how the Government has responded to Britain’s shamefully high teen pregnancy rates – giving them even more sex education, at a younger and younger age.”

Last April the Archbishop of Wales said Government policy addresses the “mechanics” of teenage sex and pregnancy but fails to teach children about commitment.

Young people should be taught that “parenthood is an awesome responsibility that requires both love and self sacrifice from parents committed to the child and to one another”, Dr Barry Morgan said.

19/01/10

“Equality” for gays should trump religious freedom, says Obama nominee

One of President Obama's nominees to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has compared traditional moral teachings on homosexuality with racism and has said that society should “not tolerate” any “private beliefs,” including religious beliefs, that may negatively affect homosexual “equality.”

19/01/10
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Elderly to outnumber children by 2045, UN report says

The number of elderly people worldwide will outnumber children for the first time in 2045, according to a new United Nations report.

14/01/10
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Former Lord Chancellor argues for conscience opt out on equality laws

A former head of the English and Welsh judiciary, has said that equality laws shouldn’t force people to provide goods or services in a way that conflicts with their conscience.

14/01/10
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Faith schools must teach that homosexuality is "normal", says Lib Dem leader

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has said that children attending faith schools should be taught that homosexuality is "normal and harmless". The proposal has been attacked by one Church of England bishops as “frighteningly fascist”.

14/01/10
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Introduce State-run schools to promote social integration: OECD

An international think-tank has suggested that the Government set up new state-run primary schools to cater for the new multi-ethnic pupil population.

14/01/10
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Defence of marriage "premier social justice issue of our time": Archbishop

The defence of traditional marriage is "one of the premier social justice issues of our time", according the head of the US Catholic Bishops committee to defend marriage.

14/01/10
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New Jersey Senate rejects same-sex marriage

New Jersey's Democrat-controlled Senate has rejected a proposal that would have made it the sixth state in the US to allow marriages involving same-sex couples.

12/01/10
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Religious believers must be allowed to take part in moral debates - Pope

The causes of environmental problems are “of the moral order”, the Pope has told the Vatican's diplomatic corps.

12/01/10
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Strong families build strong character, says Cameron

Character-formation and personal responsibility are the key to tackling a host of social problems, and the evidence suggests that character is formed in the home, Conservative leader David Cameron has said.

12/01/10
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Demand for paid childcare may be lower than estimated

The parents of an estimated 30,000 children eligible for the Government's ‘free’ pre-school year have not enrolled in the scheme, it has emerged, which may indicate that demand for paid childcare is lower than estimated.

11/01/10
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Secularism to blame for growing Islamisation of Europe, says Cardinal

The increasing secularisation of Europe, not Muslims, is to blame for the continent's increasing Islamisation, a leading European cardinal has warned.

07/01/10
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Minister seeks to make Stay Safe mandatory in schools

Minister for Education, Batt O'Keefe, has said he believes that the controversial Stay Safe child programme should be mandatory in all schools.

07/01/10
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"The child...shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents."

Article 7. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.