According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, sexual violence affects every demographic and every community – including LGBTQ people. In fact, one of the most wide-ranging reviews to date of Same Sex Intimate Partner Violence concluded that “despite the myth that intimate partner violence is only an issue in heterosexual relationships, its occurrence among lesbian gay […]
The vicious fight on the Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin city centre, during which at least one teenager was stabbed has brought the issue of knife crime sharply back into public focus. It is of course just the latest incident in a long and pitiful litany of knife related crime as a quick review will easily demonstrate. We […]
The Houses of the Oireachtas Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has confirmed that spending on Direct Provision accommodation is expected to increase to over €229 million in 2021. This represents a €21 million increase on the spending allocated for 2020. The details are contained in the PBO analysis of the Government’s proposal to Dáil Éireann […]
On 6 June 2018, the Government, headed up by then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar approved the first steps in the process that would lead to publication of the General Scheme of the Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill. The main intention of this Bill would be “to manage the risk posed by sex offenders and to prevent further […]
A newly published global overview report in the Journal of Human Reproduction has found that the number of twins being born in the last 30 years has increased in all regions of the world. This, in the main, is down to increased access to IVF, fertility treatments and the postponement of having children until later […]
Yesterday in the Dáil the Taoiseach was questioned by a number of TD’s on his dialogue and meetings with the various churches, faith groups and non-confessional bodies. These meetings are part of what is termed the Church State Structured Dialogue Process, which was established in 2005 and forms part of what the Government calls […]
Today, the Sinn Fein Spokesperson on Children, Kathleen Funchion will move the second stage debate on the Civil Registration (Right of Adoptees to Information) (Amendment) Bill 2021. As Deputy Funchion has already made clear when the Bill was formally introduced on 17 February, “Its simple objective is to give every adoptee the right to […]
To mark International Women’s Day, The Labour Party published a new manifesto called Labour. Working for Women. In it, the party, under Alan Kelly’s leadership, has provided its clearest signal yet that it will seek a radical and extreme liberalisation of the current abortion law. The manifesto also commits to making peaceful protest against […]
A Report being launched today by Green Party TD and Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, Joe O’Brien, is to recommend a radical transformation of how local authorities assess and prioritise housing applications from non-Irish minorities and members of the Traveller community. The Minority Groups and Housing Services: Barriers […]
On Wednesday last the Social Democrats introduced a Private Members Motion in the Dáil that called on the Government to extend the term of the Mother and Baby Home Commission for another 12 months to 28th February 2022. The aim of this was to facilitate a review from the Data Protection Commissioner and other relevant […]
On the same day that the Irish Times reports that Dublin City Council faces a six-year wait to start housing projects, the Minister for Children Roderick O’Gorman has announced a government commitment to asylum seekers that they will get the keys to their own accommodation after four months and will be able to work after […]
Writing on the (belated) conviction of John McClean, the Terenure rugby coach, John McGuirk raised important questions around how and why McClean managed to avoid sanction or prosecution despite the basic facts of the matter being known to all and sundry for at least 30 years. Why, McGuirk asks, did it take the actions of […]