David Quinn | |
---|---|
Nationality | Irish |
Education | St Paul's College, Raheny |
Alma mater | NIHE Dublin |
Occupation | Journalist |
Organisation | Iona Institute |
Known for | Conservative campaigning |
David Quinn is an Irish social and religious commentator. From 1996 to 2003, he was the editor at The Irish Catholic . He served as the religious and social affairs correspondent for the Irish Independent from 2003 to 2005. He has often appeared on Irish current affairs programmes. Since 2007, Quinn has been the Director of the Iona Institute advocacy group. Quinn has campaigned against the liberalisation of Irish abortion laws, the introduction of same-sex marriage and the legalisation of assisted suicide. He is a member of the Dublin branch of Legatus, which promotes Catholic values in corporate business, [1] for those who meet stringent qualification criteria. [2] He was educated at St Paul's College, Raheny and studied at NIHE Dublin (now Dublin City University), graduating with a degree in Business Studies.
He is also a regular contributor to the Irish edition of The Sunday Times .
In January 2007 Quinn founded the Iona Institute, a Roman Catholic advocacy group promoting the practice of religion and families based on traditional marriage. [3] He is the current Director of the Iona Institute. [4]
Quinn supported Ireland's previous near total ban on abortion, and has appeared many times in media debates on the topic of abortion in Ireland, to defend the Eighth Amendment.
Quinn has campaigned against the legalisation of euthanasia. [5]
Quinn has spoken in favour of Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, which allows religious schools to discriminate, and fire employees who don't match their ethos, which can be used to fire gay teachers in Catholic schools, [6] [7] with the Iona Institute recommending that it be kept. [8] He is opposed to Ireland's Gender Recognition Act for transgender people. [9] In 2010, he was opposed to legal recognition of same-sex in the form of civil partnerships. [10] [11] He campaigned unsuccessfully for a No vote in the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum. [12]
In the course of the referendum campaign, Professor John A. Murphy, an Irish historian and former member of Seanad Éireann, wrote to The Irish Times. In his letter, he described the constitutional amendment, which permitted same-sex marriage and extended constitutional protection to families based on such marriages, as "grotesque nonsense.". [13] Following this, Mr Quinn tweeted [14] "Proposed change to marriage "grotesque nonsense"... Great letter by Prof John A Murphy in @IrishTimes today #MarRef". Mr Quinn was criticised for this Tweet by drag queen and gay rights activist Rory O'Neill (also known by his stage name, Panti Bliss), who wrote: "I can think of lots of things that are grotesque. Extending constitutional protection to all families is not one of them... I would call it 'fair', 'reasonable', 'compassionate', 'considerate', 'respectful', or even 'the very least we can do'. But not 'grotesque'." [15] [16] [ non-primary source needed ]
Quinn is highly outspoken in his denial of both the severity of climate change and the role that humans have played in perpetuating the Climate crisis. [17]
Many of his objections to climate action - from carbon taxes to cutting emissions - focus solely on the economic impact that such actions would have. [18] [19] This is despite overwhelming evidence that climate action will ultimately create jobs and cost less than not taking action. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
In 2014 he made claims that the Irish Government would need to permit fracking in Ireland to address the growing demand for energy, while also sharing his opinion that the 2007 IPCC report was inaccurate. [25] The Houses of the Oireachtas subsequently published a report into the harmful effects on environment and humans that fracking could have in Ireland, [26] which led to a law being passed in 2017 banning the practice of fracking in Ireland. [27] [28]
In 2019, Quinn was noted for his outspoken comments targeting climate activist Greta Thunberg, using his appearances on radio stations and his social media channels to attack the youth climate movement. [29]
Fine Gael is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann and largest in terms of Irish members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of 25,000 in 2021. Leo Varadkar succeeded Enda Kenny as party leader on 2 June 2017 and as Taoiseach on 14 June; Kenny had been leader since 2002, and Taoiseach since 2011.
Same-sex marriage in Ireland has been legal since 16 November 2015. A referendum on 22 May 2015 amended the Constitution of Ireland to provide that marriage is recognised irrespective of the sex of the partners. The measure was signed into law by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, as the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland on 29 August 2015. The Marriage Act 2015, passed by the Oireachtas on 22 October 2015 and signed into law by the Presidential Commission on 29 October 2015, gave legislative effect to the amendment. Same-sex marriages in the Republic of Ireland began being recognised from 16 November 2015, and the first marriage ceremonies of same-sex couples in Ireland occurred the following day.
Same-sex marriage is legal in all parts of the United Kingdom. As marriage is a devolved legislative matter, different parts of the UK legalised at different times; it has been recognised and performed in England and Wales since March 2014, in Scotland since December 2014, and in Northern Ireland since January 2020. Civil partnerships, which offer most, but not all, of the rights and benefits of marriage, have been recognised since 2005.
Jim Walsh is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician and member of Seanad Éireann between 1997 and 2016.
Attitudes in Ireland towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are among the most liberal in the world. Ireland is notable for its transformation from a country holding overwhelmingly conservative attitudes toward LGBT issues, in part due to the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church, to one holding overwhelmingly liberal views in the space of a generation. In May 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage on a national level by popular vote. The New York Times declared that the result put Ireland at the "vanguard of social change". Since July 2015, transgender people in Ireland can self-declare their gender for the purpose of updating passports, driving licences, obtaining new birth certificates, and getting married. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in the state since 1993. Government recognition of LGBT rights in Ireland has expanded greatly over the past two decades. Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993, and most forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation are now outlawed. Ireland also forbids incitement to hatred based on sexual orientation.
The Iona Institute is a socially conservative, Christian, advocacy group, frequently described as a Catholic pressure group based in Ireland. Founded by columnist David Quinn, it was launched publicly in 2007.
Patricia Rosarie Casey is an Irish psychiatrist, academic, journalist and conservative commentator on social issues. She is Professor of Psychiatry at University College Dublin and consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin. She is known for her regular column with the Irish Independent newspaper, and her conservative views on a variety of social issues.
The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) was an Irish LGBT rights group based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1988 by Don Donnelly, Charles Kerrigan, Suzy Byrne, Kieran Rose and Christopher Robson. It focused on achieving change in legislation and social policy to achieve full equality and inclusion for lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Ireland, and protection from all forms of discrimination. Its board of directors were Margot Slattery (chair), Simon Nugent, Muriel Walls, Séamus Dooley and Dr. Fergus Ryan. In May 2017 it was announced that it would close.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Northern Ireland have traditionally been slower to advance than the rest of the United Kingdom, with the region having lagged behind England, Scotland, and Wales. Northern Ireland was the last part of the United Kingdom where same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised, the last to implement a blood donation “monogamous no waiting period” policy system for men who have sex with men and, after intervention by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the last to allow same-sex marriage. Compared to the neighbouring Republic of Ireland, homosexuality was decriminalised in Northern Ireland a decade earlier and civil partnerships were introduced six years earlier, but the Republic allowed same-sex marriage five years sooner.
Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland has been legal since 13 January 2020, following the enactment of the Northern Ireland Act 2019. The first marriage ceremony took place on 11 February 2020. Civil partnerships have also been available for same-sex couples in Northern Ireland since their introduction by the Government of the United Kingdom in 2005.
Breda O'Brien is an Irish teacher and columnist, writing a weekly column for The Irish Times. O'Brien is a frequent spokesperson for Catholic-based views on political issues such as opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. She founded the Irish chapter of Feminists for Life in 1992.
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Tiernan Brady is an Irish-Australian political and LGBT rights campaigner who was involved in the campaigns to allow same-sex marriage in Ireland and Australia. He was the executive director of the Equality Campaign in Australia, the successful national campaign for Australian Marriage Equality. He was the political director of Ireland's successful "Yes Equality" campaign which saw Ireland become the first country in the world to introduce marriage equality by a public vote. He was the Director of Gay HIV Strategies in GLEN – The Irish Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, and is Campaign Director of Equal Future 2018.
The Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2015 amended the Constitution of Ireland to permit marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex. Prior to the enactment, the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland. It was approved at a referendum on 22 May 2015 by 62% of voters on a turnout of 61%. This was the first time that a state legalised same-sex marriage through a popular vote. Two legal challenges regarding the conduct of the referendum were dismissed on 30 July by the Court of Appeal, and the bill was signed into law by the President of Ireland on 29 August. An amendment to the Marriage Act 2015 provided for marriages permitted by the new constitutional status. The act came into force on 16 November 2015; the first same-sex marriage ceremony was held on 17 November 2015.
Mothers and Fathers Matter (MFM) was a campaign group in Ireland which was formed in September 2014 to oppose the Children and Family Relationships Bill. MFM also opposed the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2015.
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This is a list of notable events in LGBT rights that took place in the 2010s.
The Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which altered the provisions regulating divorce. It removed the constitutional requirement for a defined period of separation before a Court may grant a dissolution of marriage, and eased restrictions on the recognition of foreign divorces. The amendment was effected by an act of the Oireachtas, the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2019.
Stripping religious-run schools and hospitals of the ability to sack staff for being gay, divorced, or unmarried is the "best we can do without starting over", Equality Minister Aodhan O Riordain says.
it was pointed out to me on social media that my stance seemed in direct contradiction of my support of Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act which allows religious organisations not to employ anyone who would undermine their ethos.
We recommend that Section 37 be retained.
It is hard to overestimate how radical this move is. ... Think Caitlyn Jenner. S/he would insist that s/he has always been a woman and has no choice but to be a woman.
I think it's very revealing that David Quinn is prepared to endorse the use of the word "grotesque" about gay relationships and families. I can think of lots of things that are grotesque. Extending constitutional protection to all families is not one of them.