8th Referendum

Doctrine and Decline? Irish Churches and the Conservative Turn

Claire Mitchell on July 1, 2018, 3:55 pm | Readers 5731

This would be a very good time to train as a humanist celebrant in Ireland. Who else is going to marry and bury the queers and the Yes voters and those living in sin? It’s interesting that at a time when many ordinary Catholics and Protestants are developing more nuanced religious beliefs and practices, some in the institutional churches are careering the other way. Denying full membership. Refusing to baptise kids. Hoking around people’s facebook pages to decide if they’re …

What can Evangelicals learn from #repealthe8th

Jonny Currie on May 26, 2018, 12:20 pm | Readers 2524

It was the closing celebration at New Wine in Sligo last summer, one of Ireland’s largest gatherings of Evangelical Christians. If you’re familiar with these events, the final evening is a vibrant celebration with bible teaching and vibrant praise and worship, with the aim of sending the masses out affirmed and emboldened in their faith. Arriving slightly late for the final event I walked past a table laden with hundreds of anti-abortion books. These were to be given free to …

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future

Soapbox on May 25, 2018, 10:26 am | Readers 2755

Carla Lockhart, DUP MLA for Upper Bann, argues in favour of retaining the 8th amendment. In recent weeks and months a passionate debate has been taking place right across Ireland on the subject of abortion. This Friday, a referendum will take place in the Republic of Ireland on whether or not the 8th amendment to the Irish Constitution, which upholds the value and worth of both mothers and unborn babies, should be removed. In Northern Ireland, three councils have recently debated …

A Yes Vote is the Only Way to Legislate for FFA and Rape Cases

Soapbox on May 16, 2018, 12:42 pm | Readers 633

Ivana Bacik is leader of the Labour Party in the Senead. In a recent essay on this site, high-profile No campaigner John McGuirk wrote about the difficulties of having to make a Yes or No choice in the forthcoming referendum. While I disagree with how McGuirk represented the nature of that choice, with less than a fortnight to go until 25th May, he was certainly correct in saying that many voters remain undecided. Over recent weeks, I have been out canvassing …