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US woman sued for seeking "Christian" room mate
~A US woman who posted an ad last July in her church seeking a Christian roommate is being sued for a breach of civil rights in the state of Michigan. According to the complaint, filed by the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan, the ad "expresses an illegal preference for a Christian roommate, thus excluding people of other faiths,” Read more...
Protect religious freedom, says leading COI bishop
~A leading Church of Ireland bishop has said that religious freedoms should not be relegated below other rights. The Bishop of Raphoe and Derry, the Right Reverend Ken Good (pictured) warned that as values of pluralism and the promotion of equality and diversity are “considered to be paramount”, religion can be reduced to simply a personal matter. Read more...
Government plans law to recognizes ‘pre-nups’
~The Government is set to propose new legislation to recognise prenuptial agreements, the Irish Times has reported. As yet, there is no date for publication of the proposals, but it is understood that the heads of the Bill are in preparation. Read more...
Court to decide rights of ‘donor-offspring’
~A Canadian woman who was conceived through sperm donation seeking information about her biological father has won the right to proceed with a lawsuit to obtain the information. A British Columbia Supreme Court judge rejected a bid by the provincial government to block a lawsuit filed by Olivia Pratten. Read more...
Families with children biggest losers in UK spending cuts
~Families with children are the biggest losers from the UK Government spending cuts and tax rises, according to a leading UK think-tank. In a study of Chancellor George Osborne's spending review, the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that in every income group, from the richest to the poorest, parents with school age children will lose more than single people, childless couples and pensioners. Read more...
Cardinal Brady hits back at Robinson school comments
~Catholic parents should not have to “settle for being second-class citizens” in respect of their right to Catholic schools, the Primate of All-Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady (pictured) has said. He was responding to remarks made by DUP leader Peter Robinson in which the Northern Ireland First Minister described education provision for Church schools as “a benign form of apartheid”. Read more...
One in ten UK babies born to parents living apart
~Nearly one in ten of babies were born to parents living apart last year, according to official figures from the UK, a third lower than the equivalent Irish figure. Of the 706,248 births in England and Wales last year, 68,251 were when the parents listed different addresses on the birth certificate, the equivalent of 9.7 per cent. Read more...
Oireachtas report ‘misguided’ in equating marriage and cohabitation
~A new report issued yesterday by the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection is “deeply misguided” in equating marriage and cohabitation and in calling for the removal of disincentives in the social welfare code to marry or cohabit, the Iona Institute has said. Only the disincentive to marry should be removed, it continued. Read more...
Women’s brains grow after having a baby says new study
~Women’s brains grow after having a baby, especially in areas linked to the hallmark traits of motherhood such as maternal motivation, reward and emotion processing, sensory integration and also in the front of the brain where reasoning and judgment take place, a new study says. Read more...
Row as Peter Robinson attacks Catholic schools
~Catholic school principals have attacked First Minister Peter Robinson after he said Catholic schools foster a type of “apartheid” and that State funding of such schools should end. The Catholic Principals Association (CPA) accused Mr Robinson of “rabble rousing” in a manner which was “a throw back to the bad old days of religious intolerance”. Read more...
Big increase in out of wedlock births in Limerick city
~Sixty two percent of births in Limerick city in the first quarter of this year were outside marriage, up from 53 percent in the same quarter last year, according to figures from the CSO. The figures show that Limerick city has the highest rate of births to unmarried parents in the country. There were 207 births in Limerick city in the first quarter of this year. Of these, 128 were born to unmarried parents, with 50 of these children (39 per cent) born to cohabiting parents. Read more...
Children in single parent families have more behavioural problems: study
~A major new UK study shows that children raised by single mothers are twice as likely to misbehave by the age of seven as those born into traditional two-parent families. The research, carried out for the UK's on-going Millennium Cohort Study, shows that some 12 per cent of children brought up by one parent displayed series behavioural problems by the age of seven. Read more...
Remove disincentives to marriage, cohabitation says report
~Disincentives to marriage and cohabitation should be removed from the social welfare system, according to new report the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection. The committee, in a report set to be published next week, says that the Lone Parent Allowance and “qualified adult” social welfare payment should be replaced by a single parental allowance payable to all low-income parents, the Irish Times reports. Read more...
50,000 mothers forced back to work in UK
~Around 50,000 stay-at-home mothers in the UK have been forced back to work over the past year, official figures revealed yesterday. According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, employment data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the number of stay-at-home mothers fell to its lowest level since August 1994. Read more...
Taoiseach scraps wording for Children’s Rights amendment
~The Government has scrapped the wording agreed by an All Party Oireachtas committee for a children's rights referendum. And Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday refused to commit to holding any referendum on the issue It is believed that the Government feared that wording would have had knock-on effects on other areas of law and mean more funding would have to be allocated. Read more...
Miliband attacks Child Benefit cut
~Labour leader Ed Miliband (pictured) has attacked the UK Government’s proposed changes to Child Benefit during Prime Minister’s Question Time. The new Leader of the Opposition pressed Prime Minister David Cameron to explain why it was fair for families where one parent stayed at home to lose out while those with two salaries who earned tens of thousands a year more between them kept the benefit, the Daily Telegraph reports. Read more...
Religious believers have higher survival rates post-operation says study.
~A new study which examined liver transplant patients, found that people who were actively “seeking God” had a better survival rate than those who did not hold religious beliefs, regardless of which faith they held. Some patients were up to three times more likely to survive by having a “strong religious connection”, even if they didn't attend church, according to the research. Read more...
EU must promote religious freedom says leading MEP
~EU foreign policy needs to include religious freedom as a central plank, according to a leading Member of the European Parliament. Speaking at a conference organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and the Evangelical Church in Germany, Othmar Karas MEP said EU foreign policy must take account of religious freedom issues. Read more...
Leading judge calls for more family mediation in divorce cases
~Alternative family dispute resolution methods such as mediation should be placed at the top of the agenda for lawyers and the courts, according to newly appointed Supreme Court judge Mr Justice Liam McKechnie. Speaking at a Canadian-Irish judicial conference at the weekend attended by judges from Canada and the US as well as Ireland, Justice McKechnie said that judges could play an important role in encouraging mediation. Read more...
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Over 3000 families lose Child Benefit payment in crackdown
~The Department of Social Protection has cut off payment of the Child Benefit to the equivalent of 8,500 children, the Irish Independent has revealed. According to a report in the paper, the Department has suspended the payment to 3,070 families, while payment to another 1,480 families has been stopped altogether -- affecting a total of 8,600 children. Read more...
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Senator hails "momentous" victory for religious freedom
~Independent NUI Senator Ronan Mullen (pictured) has hailed as “momentous” yesterday's vote at the Parlimentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in favour of defending religious freedom. The vote was on a report, drafted by British representative Christine McCaffery, which in its original form was intended to severely restrict the right of medical workers to refuse to perform abortions. Read more...
Child benefit should be left untouched, says lone parent group
~A leading lone parent group has come out in support of child benefit remaining a universal benefit. In its pre-budget submission, One Family called on the Government to make modest increases in supports to low-income families with children, according to an Irish Times report. They also urged the Government not to the cut the benefit. Read more...
Experts tussle over child benefit cut
~Debate over possible Government cuts to child benefit has been continuing today as experts weighed in on whether the benefit be removed or reduced for higher income earners. In an article in the Irish Times, financial expert Jim Power, of Friends First, argued that the benefit ought to be cut for those on higher incomes. Read more...
Feuding parents told to try mediation before court
~Divorcing parents in custody battles in the UK could be refused legal aid unless they try mediation first, Conservative justice minister Jonathan Djanogly suggested yesterday. Mr Djanogly said too many parents fighting over their children were going straight to the courts, costing the Exchequer tens of millions of pounds a year, the Daily Telegraph reports. Read more...
Judges who backed same-sex marriage face tough re-election battle in Iowa
~The judges on Iowa's Supreme Court who ruled in favour of same-sex marriage last year face a tough battle to be retained, according to a new poll. The poll, carried out on behalf of the state's leading paper, the Des Moines Register, shows that 44 percent of Iowans who plan to cast a ballot in the retention election say they will vote "yes" to all three justices. Read more...
Constitution may prohibit Government from cutting child benefit to high earners, Minister says
~The Constitution may be a barrier to removing child benefit from high-earning households, Minister for Social Protection Eamon Ó Cuív (pictured) has said. Mr O'Cuiv was reacting to suggestions the Government could follow the example of the British Chancellor, George Osborne, who has announced that higher earners would no longer be paid child benefit. Read more...
Unmarried father's rights not breached by Irish law, Euro court finds
~The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled against an unmarried Irish father whose partner took their three children to the UK without his consent. In a landmark ruling, the ECJ decided that the fact that the father did not have time to secure custody rights through the Irish courts when his partner removed the children to England was not a breach of his rights under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, according to RTE. Read more...
Young Britons see religion as "irrelevant"
~Most young people in the think religion is largely irrelevant, for whom a “secular trinity” of themselves, their family and their friends to give meaning to their lives, according to a new book. The book, The Faith of Generation Y, published by the Church of England also found that most young people are not looking for answers to “ultimate questions”. Read more...
Government should consider cuts to child benefit, Andrews says
~The Minister for Children Barry Andrews (pictured) has suggested that the Government may have to examine cutting child benefit for higher earners in the next Budget. He was speaking in the wake of the announcement of UK Chancellor George Osborne that his Government are to cut child benefit for higher earners. The move has created a storm of controversy in Britain. Read more...
Report undermines "fundamental democratic principles" family group says
~A leading Europe-wide pro-family group has come out against a proposal in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe which seeks to “regulate” freedom of conscience. The Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe have said that the report, entitled ‘Women’s access to lawful medical care: the problem of unregulated use of lawful conscientious objection’ undermines “fundamental principles of a democratic society”, particularly freedom of conscience. Read more...
New study maps religiosity of young people
~Economics and geography play a huge part in determining the level of religiosity among young people around the world, according to a new survey of international research. The research brief, put together by US group Child Trends, finds that young people's religious belief tends to be stronger in countries where there has been a culturally dominant religion, such as Islam or Catholicism. Read more...
New feminist organisation established by TCD graduates
~A new Irish organisation dedicated to promoting feminism among younger women was launched last night, The Irish Times reports. The new group is called the Irish Feminist Network and it is aimed at tackling the decreasing levels of interest in feminism among young women. Read more...
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Catholic schools issued guidelines on integrating non-Catholic children
~Guidelines to Catholic schools on how best to integrate students of other faiths have been issued by the Joint Managerial Body/Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools (JMB/AMCSS). Read more...
Religious knowledge weak among Americans
~America may be a religious society, but levels of religious knowledge among Americans is low, according to a new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The poll is similar to ones commissioned by The Iona Institute in 2007. Read more...
Council of Europe report seeks to curtail conscience rights of health workers
~The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will vote next week on a report which could drastically weaken freedom of conscience for healthcare professionals across Europe. The report says that conscientious objection should be limited to doctors and nurses but not to medical institutions like hospitals, that doctors and nurses with an objection to a procedure such as abortion must refer the patient to someone who does not have such an objection, and that in ‘emergencies’ they must carry out the procedures themselves. Read more...
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