The Iona Institute ~ for Religion and Society
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Topic:
Marriage & the Family
Related Iona Documents
Child Abuse by Family Structure
October 30, 2012
Child Abuse by Family Structure ~ Why we should protect marriage to protect children.
Report by the Iona Institute 2012
The Argument for Preserving Marriage in a nutshell
3rd July
Marriage as a social institution has always been about trying to ensure that as many children as possible are raised by their natural mother and father. Research shows that this produces the best outcomes for children.
Ireland, the United Nations and human rights
4th October
Ireland is to appear before the UN Human Rights Council to discuss our human rights record. But UN bodies often radically misinterpret their own treaties.
Peter Saunders: Towards a family friendly tax policy
27th May 2011
Why governments should be fairer to married couples.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
The attack on the biological family
30th September 2007
Philosopher Brenda Almond discusses the philosophical trends undermining the notion that the biological basis of the family has any special significance.
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.
Opinion poll on public attitude to marriage and the family
2007
This is the first ever opinion poll conducted in Ireland to try and discover what Irish people think about marriage and the two-parent family. There have been opinion polls about issues like divorce or gay marriage, but none to my knowledge about what people really think about marriage, about its value to society, about fatherlessness, about whether or not the State should continue to give marriage special status, etc. The poll is mainly good news for those who support marriage although a cautionary note will be have struck shortly. The first and most important thing to be said, however, is that a roughly two-to-one majority of the public still favours marriage and the two-parent family. Read more and download the full document.
Full poll results including demographic details.
Related News Articles in this Website
New French coalition formed to fight for freedom of conscience
Young families hardest hit by recession says ESRI
Convention recommends amending not deleting women in the home provision
Anger at proposal to pay for pre-school places out of Child Benefit
Cameron’s commitment to redefining marriage ‘costing votes’
Related Blog Articles in this Website
Should marriage in any form have special status?
'I want gay marriage but I also think marriage shouldn't exist at all'
Why family equality is a more logical aim than marriage equality
The growing marriage gap
Who's really jumping ahead of the evidence in the same-sex marriage debate?
Related Talks
Dr Peter Saunders on the unfairness of tax individualisation
Jonas Himmelstrand on Sweden’s failed daycare experiment
Breda O’Brien on Irish social policy’s bias against mothers
Related Web Links
The Institute for Marriage and Public Policy http://marriagedebate.com/
Relationship Foundation http://www.relationshipsfoundation.org/
The National Fatherhood Initiative http://www.fatherhood.org/
The Heritage Foundation's familyfacts.org http://www.familyfacts.org/
Family and Life http://www.familyandlife.org/
The National Marriage Project http://www.virginia.edu/marriageproject/
The Fatherhood Institute http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/
The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada http://www.imfcanada.org/
