Iona Documents

Made for children: Why the institution of marriage deserves special status

19th August 2010

The latest paper from The Iona Institute explains why marriage has special status and why this is not discrimination.

A child’s best interests: who decides?

10th June 2010

A referendum on the subject of children's rights could be held by the end of the year. It will introduce the concept of "the best interests of the child" into the Constitution. The key question is who gets to decide what is in the best interest of the child, the State or parents? Our latest briefing note looks at this issue.

 

Teenage access to contraception

March 24, 2010

The Iona Institute has made a submission to the Law Reform Commission in response to its recent consultation paper ‘Children and the Law: medical treatment’. The submission is written by Professor David Paton of Nottingham University.

Click here to download Professor Paton's Powerpoint presentation on the topic.

Unmarried fathers submission.

January 05, 2010

The Iona Institute has made a submission to the Law Reform Commission in response to its recent consultation paper ‘Legal Aspects of Family Relationships’. 

Making Babies: Regulating the AHR industry

December 06, 2009

Our latest paper is an examination of the Assisted Human Reproduction industry. It is a response to the Government-appointed commission on

Our latest paper is an examination of the Assisted Human Reproduction industry. It is a response to the Government-appointed commission on topic and sets out its own, child-centred, recommendations for the industry. An edited version of the paper can be found by clicking on the image to the right. A full-length version can be found here.

Church attendance in Ireland increases.

November 02, 2009

A new poll conducted by RedC on behalf of The Iona Institute shows that weekly church attendance has increased from 42 percent to 46 percent in the last 18 months while the number who go at least once a month has jumped from 54 percent to 65 percent. 

Only one in four want State-run schools.

A new poll conducted by RedC on behalf of The Iona Institute shows that only one in four people want all publicly-funded schools to be State-run. The rest want a choice of schools, including Church-run schools. The results are almost identical to another poll we commissioned last year. 

The benefits of religious practise

April 3, 2009.

Our latest paper is a look at studies attesting to the benefits of religious practise. Called ‘The psycho-social benefits of religious practise’, it has been written by Professor Patricia Casey and it was launched at our conference on religious practise on April 3, 2009. An executive summary of the paper is also available by clicking here.

New polls shows majority still believe marriage is better for society than cohabitation.

January 12, 2009

A majority of people continue to believe that marriage is better for society and for children than cohabitation according to a new opinion poll commissioned by The Iona Institute and conducted by Red C. 

The denominational schools debate.

August 27, 2008

The latest paper from The Iona Institute looks at the ongoing debate over the future of denominational schools and argues that parents have a right to send their children to publicly-funded denominational (or other) schools of their choice.

Denominational education and parental choice poll

April 2008

A poll conducted by Red C on behalf of The Iona Institute highlights public attitudes to the issue of parental choice in education. It finds overwhelming public support for parental choice and strong support for denominational schools. 

Children’s Rights Submission

February 06, 2008

The Iona Institute has made a submission to the Oireachtas Committee examining the proposed children’s rights amendment. 

NI religious knowledge poll

December 10, 2007

A new poll conducted by Millward Brown Ulster on behalf of The Iona Institute the Evangelical Alliance Ireland, and the Evangelical Alliance (Northern Ireland) reveals, for the first time ever, levels of religious knowledge among the general population in Northern Ireland and finds they are even lower than in the South as revealed by our poll in April.

Domestic Partnerships: A response to recent proposals on civil unions

November 2, 2007

The latest report from The Iona Institute looks at proposals to give greater recognition and protection to cohabiting couples, provides the arguments in favour of marriage, and puts forward a means of preserving the special status of marriage while giving certain protections to other couples. Click on the image on the right to download the document.

Marriage breakdown and family structure in Ireland

September 14, 2007

A new report from The Iona Institute provides a detailed look at family breakdown and family structure in Ireland based on Census 2006. It includes maps of most of Ireland’s major cities down to the electoral district level showing marital breakdown and family structure. Family breakdown is shown by age and region as well as trends in this regard over the last 20 years.