Yearly Archives: 2014

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The Pro Life Campaign held its national conference in the RDS on Saturday. One of the issues raised was media bias.

Caroline Simons, legal consultant for the Pro Life Campaign said:

“For over two years now, every time this issue comes up in the news there has been an almost exclusive focus on abortion. This is doing a massive disservice to women. How many women end up going for abortion in this situation having heard nothing whatsoever about the extraordinary support which perinatal hospice care offers to the mother and baby for whatever short length of time the baby may live? There is urgent need for more balance in this debate.”

Cora Sherlock, Deputy Chairperson of the Pro Life Campaign said:

“A majority of people in this country consistently say that they want to keep a pro-life model in Ireland. Put simply: we’re not into ending lives here. We are into saving them. Recent polls claiming widespread support for abortion fail to take into account the fact that the evidence shows abortion is not a treatment for suicidal feelings. The Government ignored this when introducing abortion last year.”

Meanwhile….

According to today’s Irish Times, 68% are in favour of referendum in cases of rape or where the foetus will not be born alive.

Majority of voters want abortion law liberalised (Stephen Collins, Irish Times)

Previously: No Direction Home

Pic: The Scientist

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Fr Michael Drumm of the Catholic Schools Partnership this morning at Warrenmount School, Dublin 8

“The aim of this new report is to demonstrate that Catholic voluntary schools are a key part of our whole educational enterprise that they make a distinct contribution to the development of Irish society and that they want to work in partnership with all of the stakeholders in second-level schools.”

Via Independent.ie:

A paper presented by CSP [Catholic Schools Partnership] chairperson Fr Michael Drumm said that Catholic secondary schools were severely disadvantaged in terms of finance in comparison with community/comprehensive schools and schools under the umbrella of Education and Training Boards (ETBs), formerly Vocational Education Committees (VECs)

The basis on which the State provides money to Catholic schools is different from that applying to the other sectors and Fr Drumm said Catholic schools receive “significantly less funding”.

According to [the paper] the patronage structure that supports Catholic schools received no State funding, which was “clearly unjust”.

Catholic schools seeking end to ‘unjust’ treatment by State (Katherine Donnelly, Irish Independent)

chi's

vietnam

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Chi’s bar (top) and Chi and Eugene Moloney

Orla writes:

“Travelling through Vietnam and came across these framed pictures in Chi’s Cafe on Bui Vien Street in Ho Chi Minh City, in honour of Eugene Moloney, the journalist who was killed on Camden Street, Dublin, two years ago. Chi’s Cafe is owned by Chici, who was Eugene’s girlfriend at the time of his death.
The top pic, above the Irish News frame, is of an award created in Eugene’s memory from his football team in Hanoi, where he used to play. The one of him with the harp was something Chi had painted. The one above the harp is of Chi with Richie Havens, taken in Whelan’s Dublin…”

Previously: Eugene Moloney on Broadsheet

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Having a rough day?

Spare a thought for Daniela Liverani, 24, from Edinburgh.

Ms Liverani believes she picked up the leech in Vietnam or Cambodia, but even when she felt it moving up and down her nostril, she thought it was a blood clot. She told BBC Radio Scotland: “Your initial reaction isn’t to start thinking, oh God, there’s obviously a leech in my face.”

Woman finds three-inch leech in nose after South East Asia trip (BBC News Scotland)

(Pic: Caters/BBC)

(H/T: Paidraic Ryan)