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The Iona Blog
Opinions contained in The Iona Blog are not necessarily those of The Iona Institute. The Iona Blog is open to anyone who broadly shares the views of The Iona Institute. If you wish to post a comment on a relevant topic please email 200 – 400 words to info@ionainstitute.ie and it will be considered for inclusion in the blog.
The growing marriage gap
~Much has been written about the growing “marriage gap” in the US. Data increasingly shows that those in lower social groups are experiencing both higher levels of marital breakdown and lower rates of marriage overall. The same applies here Meanwhile, those who have third level education have seen marriage breakdown stabilise. Read more...
Who's really jumping ahead of the evidence in the same-sex marriage debate?
~In a number of our publications, including our submission to the Constitutional Convention on the issue of marriage, we have used (among other quotes) a very serviceable one from Child Trends, a US-based NGO. The quote is taken from a document called ‘Marriage from a Child’s Perspective: How Does Family Structure Affect Children, and What Can We Do about It?’ Read more...
The Iona Institute at the Constitutional Convention
~David Quinn represented the Iona Institute at the Constitutional Convention last week. He took part in a panel discussion and explained why the distinctive nature of male/female sexual unions justifies a special and distinct social institution. Read more...
Ireland a step closer to rejecting the value of motherhood and fatherhood
~WHEN the Constitutional Convention voted in favour of same-sex marriage at the weekend, as was expected, Ireland took a step closer to rejecting the right of a child to have the love of both a mother and a father where such are available. Read more...
What's at stake at the Constitutional Convention this weekend
~The Constitutional Convention debates same-sex marriage this weekend. In my Irish Independent column this week I set out the argument for not redefining marriage. The core question for the delegates: do they believe there are real and complementary differences between men and women and mothers and fathers that should be embodied in a distinct and special social institution? Read more...
How porn is misshaping teenagers’ view of sex
~A story from the UK last week suggested that by the time they reach 14, nearly all boys have accessed pornography. While we don't know the figures here, we can be sure that it is a growing problem in Ireland too. Read more...
The differences between the sexes: what science shows
~Are there any real differences between men and women apart from the obvious, physical ones, or have the differences all to do with the way we’re formed by society? This article by Professor William Reville in the Irish Times the other day sets out the precise scientific basis for why the sexual differences between men and women are not “socially constructed” but natural. Read more...
What the new survey of parental demand for schools tells us
~The Department of Education has published the results of a survey of parents in another 38 areas to find out how many want to send their children to a non-denominational school. Once again, there was a low response rate and little interest was shown in alternatives to Catholic schools. Read more...
On the uses of research in debates about marriage
~The Iona Institute, among other pro-marriage groups, likes to use a number of studies to buttress its case that marriage should be given special status. It is obvious that marriage should not have special status unless there is something special about it. What is that something? The answer is the benefits it passes on to children. Read more...
Labour’s social issues agenda bombs in Meath East by-election
~Labour’s Eoin Holmes has done spectacularly badly in the Meath East by-election. Holmes ran in part on a social issues agenda. He made lots of noise about Labour’s stance on abortion and same-sex marriage, and had Ivana Bacik (pictured) as a prominent part of his campaign. It did him no good whatsoever. Read more...
French show how it's done with yet another massive pro-marriage rally
~Last Sunday saw another mass protest against same-sex marriage in Paris. This video gives a good feel of the colour, atmosphere and sheer joie de vivre of the overall march. Read more...
Why do economists recommend college for its benefits but not marriage?
~Why do economists strongly recommend schemes promoting higher levels of college education, but almost never promote schemes to incentivise marriage? After all, both are beneficial. It's an interesting question, posed by writer Megan McArdle in this blog. Read more...
Child-care as the cure for all our ills
~More extravagant claims are being made for the benefits of child-care. For example, at a recent conference organised by pro-child care organisation, Start Strong, Fergus Finlay of Bernardos said Sweden’s comprehensive child-care system was responsible for its strong economy. Read more...
A gay man argues against gay marriage
~The website of the Constitutional Convention lists all the submissions made to date on the subject of same-sex marriage. Most of these, unfortunately, reflect only one side of the argument, that is the pro-same-sex marriage side. Read more...
Willingly and unwillingly teaching religion
~The headline to the story in The Irish Times yesterday read, ‘Only 49pc teach religion willingly in schools’. What did this headline invite us to believe? It invited us to believe that the rest do so unwillingly. Nothing could be further from the truth. The INTO survey on which the report is based in fact found that only 10pc of respondents don’t want to teach religion. Read more...
Equality commissars take aim at religious freedom. Again.
~Reports that the Government could back a Bill which would deny religious institutions the right not to hire people who could damage their ethos and to take “reasonable” action against those who do is very worrying for those of us who value religious freedom. Read more...
Maria Steen discusses surrogacy on RTE's Prime Time
~Maria Steen of the Iona Institute discussed the issue of surrogacy on RTE's Prime Time with David Walsh of the Sims Fertility Clinic on Tuesday in the wake of the High Court's decision to recognise the biological parents of twins born to a surrogate mother as the legal parents. Read more...
How a surrogate mother was pressured to have an abortion
~Yesterday's High Court ruling in favour of a biological mother whose child was born to a surrogate mother and who wanted to be acknowledged as the legal mother was a legal milestone. The case presented surrogacy in a positive light. In fact, surrogacy is an ethical minefield throwing into sharp relief such questions as who is the ‘real’ mother of a child when two or more women have a hand in its creation. Read more...
Motherhood presented as an anti-woman institution
~This year is the 50th anniversary of The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan, one of the most influential books of the late 20th century and possibly the key text in modern feminism. In the latest edition of the Family in America journal, author Charmaine Crouse Yoest argues that the book launched modern feminism's war on motherhood. Read more...
Considering a ‘right’ to assisted suicide at the Supreme Court
~The Supreme Court is in the midst of considering the issue of assisted suicide, after last month's High Court ruling upholding Ireland's ban on the practice was appealed. Yesterday, the court heard from the lawyer from the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC), Frank Callanan SC, who argued that the appellant, Marie Fleming, should have the right to die, but declined to say whether this was a Constitutional right or not. Read more...
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