An Australian surrogacy lobby has called for commercial surrogacy to be legalised in Australia. It is currently banned in all of the country’s states. However, in 2019-20 275 babies born overseas to surrogate mothers were granted Australian citizenship, the highest number on record. Thailand and India, formerly popular destinations, no longer allow foreigners to employ surrogate mothers, […]
Let me begin by making a statement of the obvious. If you are a third level student from a disadvantaged background, then the chances of you having to work part time and during your holidays are significantly higher than if you were a student from one of the more economically privileged social groups. Of […]
A scandalous event is set to shake South Africa in the near future: A former president of this country could soon be in prison. The country’s deputy chief justice, Justice Raymond Zondo, has called on the Constitutional Court to find former president Jacob Zuma in contempt of court and requested the “Apex Court” to sentence […]
“Who’s your sexy Taoiseach?” is a non-quote regularly and hilariously attributed to former Taoiseach Enda Kenny by Oliver Callan on his politician-lampooning radio show, Callan’s Kicks. Conjuring images of a Mr September some people never knew they wanted, the slogan caricatures Enda’s supposed 10-pints-in-each-hand machoness and magnetism by juxtaposing it against his familiar, austere, Weshthrun […]
In 1630, the Puritan colonist of the Massachusetts Bay colony, John Winthorp, used the image of the “City on a vision of purpose and destiny – which he believed would fail or thrive before the eyes of the world. “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes […]
Credit: Brian Doyle #gript
Britain’s Salt Act of 1882 prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt, a staple in their diet. Indian citizens were forced to buy the vital mineral from their British rulers, who, in addition to exercising a monopoly over the manufacture and sale of salt, also charged a heavy salt tax. Though it affected everyone, it […]
The first-ever papal visit to Iraq should raise awareness about the challenges facing Iraqi Christians – a majority of whom are Catholic. In the past two decades, the Christian population in Iraq has fallen by over 80%. The 1987 Iraqi census reported that there were 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, and today it is estimated that the […]
Thomas Clarke was born in Hampshire in the UK to Irish parents. They moved back to Dungannon when Thomas was 7 years old and the family spent the rest of his youth there. When he was 20, he joined the IRB and quickly rose to prominence, becoming head of the local IRB circle. He was […]
The Irish Bishops’ Conference has criticised the inertia of the government in addressing concerns of the religious in Ireland – a watershed moment as up to now, the Bishops have instructed priests across the country to adhere to Government restrictions. The Bishops have collectively, publicly, called on the Government to ease the restrictions on public […]
‘Facts tell, stories sell,’ according to the advertising maxim. Leaving the question of whether an advertising maxim should have anything to do with news or journalism, clearly in contemporary times, it does. In recent Irish history, for example, we can trace the repeal of the Eighth Amendment to the long-running campaign by activists to tell […]
Legalised euthanasia is only a few weeks away in the Australian state of Tasmania. The End-of-Life Choices bill passed through the lower house of the Tasmania Parliament this week and moved to the upper house, where it is expected to pass easily. It will be the third of Australia’s six states to pass a euthanasia […]