The Director of The Iona Institute, David Quinn, was one of the speakers at a conference on religion and the EU organised by Fine Gael MEP, Gay Mitchell, that took place on Wednesday in the parliament building of the European Union in Brussels.

The Catholic Church should be removed from its role in primary education as a matter of urgency, a former general secertary of the Labour Party has said.

Speaking at the Leviathan political cabaret in Dublin last night, Brendan Halligan, now chairman of the Institute of International and European Affairs, said there should be full seperation of Church and State.

“No question they should be taken out of primary education as soon as possible. We need proper and thorough complete separation of church and State,” Mr Halligan said.

He understood that in the past the church had provided a health service where none existed. “We should say thanks and get on with it,” he added.

The topic under discussion was “A new Constitution: a second republic?” Mr Halligan said he would like to see the Constitution changed, and called on the “political class” to give leadership and take firm decisions on the matter.

“I’m with Napoleon. He said constitutions should be short, simple and vague.”

Irish Times columnist Dr Elaine Byrne, adjunct lecturer in the department of political science at Trinity College Dublin, said she was in favour of cautious constitutional reform. However, she stressed the Irish people had to “take ownership” of the issue.

Single parents are set to lose their lone-parent allowance payment when their child hits the age of 13, it has been revealed. However, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin yesterday insisted any changes to the One-Parent Family Payment will be phased in over a number of years.

Children living with a single parent who had a cohabiting partner in the household are at most risk of abuse and neglect, according to a new US government report.

Harriet Harman has indicated that she will not try to overturn the House of Lords votes on the Equality Bill which preserved religious groups’ employment freedoms.

Sex education classes that focus on encouraging children to remain abtain from sex can persuade a significant proportion to delay sexual activity, according to new US research which has been described as "game-changing".

The Pope has attacked the UK Government's equality laws, which he says instead of making society more equal, will limit religious freedom and is therefore an attack on natural justice.

A well-known child law academic has said that the Lisbon Treaty could have a major impact on children’s rights in the Irish courts.

Local referenda are expected to be held in each area where the Catholic Church agrees to relinquish control of its schools, Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe said yesterday.

The Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, has strongly defended the contribution of Catholic schools and the principle of parental choice.

In Wednesday’s resumed Dail debate on the Civil Partnership Bill, Fine Gael TDs Lucinda Creighton, Leo Varadkar and Seymour Crawford have all come out in favour of an amendment to the Bill in order to protect freedom of religion, although they differ on the amount of protection that should be given to freedom of conscience.

A Christian family from Germany have been granted political asylum in the US after facing the threat of prison for home schooling their children.

The divorce rate in Britain has fallen to a 29-year low, official statistics revealed.

The Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, has again rejected calls for the inclusion in the Civil Partnership Bill of a conscience protection for civil registrars.

Fine Gael TD Damien English has come out in support of a limited conscience amendment to the Government's Civil Partnership Bill.

Ruairí Quinn, the Labour Party spokesperson on education, has said parents should have a choice of schools to which they can send their children.

The UK Government has lost in the House of Lords over its attempt in the Equality Bill to alter the law on who churches and other faith-based groups can employ in ways the Churches believe will be detrimental to religious freedom.

The HSE took 300 more children into care last year as compared to 2008. A report presented to a meeting of the HSE earlier this month shows there were 5,694 children in care at the end of November 2009, up from 5,396 in January 2009 – a 5.5 per cent increase.

The Government's Civil Partnership Bill ought to have a conscience opt-out clause, Fine Gael TD Sean Barrett has said.