The Irish will never want to remove ‘mothers’ from the Constitution, writes David Quinn No-one expected such resounding defeats of the two referendums put before the Irish people by the Government, proposals that were backed by every party in the Dail aside from Aontu with its one TD, and Independent Ireland with its three. The…
Nuns at protest raises questions about clashing views of justice, writes David Quinn A big demonstration passed through Dublin on Saturday mainly to protest against what is happening in Gaza, but also on behalf of a whole plethora of minority groups from asylum-seekers, to Travellers, to transsexual people, to those with disabilities. Among those taking…
A court ruling last week in the US state of Alabama has set the cat among the proverbial pigeons by declaring that unborn children are exactly that – children. Therefore, they must be treated with care by IVF clinics and not thoughtlessly destroyed if no longer needed, which is what these clinics routinely do. The…
It is as if the Govt doesn’t really care about marriage, writes David Quinn The referendums on the family and on care are closing in fast. They are to take place on Friday, March 8. There has not been much of a debate so far, not compared with the 2015 referendum on marriage, much less…
In a sense, it was more than John Bruton who was being laid to rest last Saturday following his sad death. It was also the remains of Irish Christian Democracy because John Bruton was a proud Christian Democrat and the last properly Christian Democratic leader of Fine Gael, and our last Christian Democratic Taoiseach. I…
The Church is concerned by a rise in eurosceptics, writes David Quinn For decades after World War II, the politics of Europe was characterised by great stability. Elections were almost always won by one of two political power blocs, either a centre-right Christian Democrat-style party, or a centre-left Social Democrat one. This has broken down.…
We have a Government that does not like public debate going out of their control, writes David Quinn The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming’ was the name of a movie that came out in 1966. It was a spoof that played on American paranoia about Russia and communism. Of course, there was a…
We have a Government that does not like public debate going out of their control, writes David Quinn There is misinformation, disinformation and one I would like to add to that list, namely under-information. All three of these things can badly distort the public’s understanding of any given issue. Imagine this as an Agatha Christie…
RTÉ documentary fails to ask the big questions about the priesthood, writes David Quinn You could tell Ardal O’Hanlon was pulling his punches in his documentary about the huge decline in vocations that was aired by RTÉ on Monday night, but you could also tell he won’t regret it when there are very few clergy…
The true story of Tuam children’s home may never be known, writes David Quinn Soon enough, the Tuam children’s home will be back in the news again. Exhumation of the bodies buried there will begin and a committee to advise on the process will convene very shortly. It is now 10 years since news of…