Professor of Social Policy says Ruth Coppinger's proposal "deeply concerning" in relation to producing accurate data on biological sex which is vital to manage services particularly healthcare and pensions and to plan for future development. gript.ie/prof-coppingers-non…

Introducing an additional legal category of a third gender needs to be carefully examined, according to the Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary rte.ie/news/2026/1021/159626…

Feelings are real. So are facts. When they collide, the law must stand with the facts. That's why I'm voting no tonight on the Non-Binary and Intersex Recognition Bill.

Childrens minister FF Norma Foley has just given €9,500 of our money to this pair, who are the principals behind so-called “Intersex Ireland”, a non-incorporated entity. On the left is Jason Morgan who changed his name to Adeline Berry by Deed Poll in 2018, and requested the change be made public, on the right is a man who has changed his name to Socha Ni Faoilain and also goes by Sorcha Rosa, though neither name-change is on the public Deed Poll register. Morgan/Berry is the partner of Leea Berry and until 2020 at least, they were in the prostitution business which they call “sex work”. More recently Morgan/Berry has claimed focus on academic research. Ni Faoilain/Rosa was involved in bicycles, and these days operates a website selling bicycle parts and vintage porn mags. He also offers “intimate companionship” starting from €150/30 mins. Why has Norma Foley given them €9,500 of our money? For a project! “Peer Support and Healthcare Access Project” for “Intersex”, a condition which has highly contest definitions, but a basic definition is “a variety of congenital conditions in which a person's sex development (chromosomes, gonads, hormones, or anatomy) does not fit typical male or female patterns” This pair have recently claimed that the condition applies to 1.7% of the population, which is also highly contested and the orthodox definitions reckon just around 0.02% of the population have physical conditions around “intersex” male/female anatomy.

The wonderful Sall Grover @salltweets being interviewed by Pat Kenny on the @PatKennyNT show today. Welcome media coverage by @NewstalkFM - other media please copy @TheCountessIE @wicklowwomen4w1 link.goloudplayer.com/s/pGjh…

Last week, the NCCA very quietly published its new Intercultural Education Toolkit and the literature review used to support its development. Its not your standard approach to celebrating diversity and promoting kindness. In fact, it critiques universal human rights and liberal approaches and instead adopts a critical race and decolonial theoretical lens. It asks that intercultural education "permeate all facets of school life" by integrating it across all areas of the curriculum and school setting. Children are set to learn to understand how their "white, settled, Irish" identity affords them unearned privileges and power. The guidance for implementing Intercultural Education slots directly into the 4 key areas of wellbeing promotion outlined in the Department of Education's Wellbeing Policy and Framework for Practice. This isn't the first time we have seen this framework used as a justification to push schools to teach contested ideologies. On the back of 2024 "research", Belong To developed the LGBTQ+ Inclusive Primary School Pilot Programme, specifically designed to slot into the Dept's Wellbeing Policy and Framework as well, which would require schools to integrate gender ideology into the classroom and adopt a queer theoretical lens in teaching. Why is this happening? The Department of Education has been in the process of reviewing their Wellbeing Policy and Framework and to support this, the ESRI was commissioned to undertake a literature review on wellbeing promotion in schools, which includes recommendations. One of the recommendations is that "a greater emphasis should be placed on centralising equity, inclusion and diversity in school wellbeing promotion; indeed, this should be viewed as a precondition for promoting wellbeing at school and a measure of the success of school ethos." So, the new Wellbeing Framework can be understood as an enforcement mechanism within a larger coordinated policy infrastructure. If successful integration of DEI ideologies into the 4 areas of wellbeing promotion (curriculum, culture, policy and planning, and relationships) is framed as a precondition to wellbeing promotion, it does not seem like schools will have much choice in whether or not they teach contested and controversial ideologies. Making DEI a part of wellbeing promotion and the teaching of these ideologies a requirement under the Dept's Wellbeing Policy, also provides a way to get around parental objections. There was no press release on the NCCA or Curriculum Online website announcing the publication of the new Intercultural Education Toolkit. Despite the fact that it asks for incredibly controversial approaches and topics to be integrated into every aspect of schooling, from the early years through to Senior Cycle, there was no public consultation on the matter. How is this acceptable? Something that is intended to have this magnitude of impact on the entirety of our children's education should surely be openly discussed and debated. When the Dept publishes their new Wellbeing Policy and Framework, will it go for public consultation before it is implemented? How many people are aware of the ESRI review and the other concerning recommendations that have been made within it, including the routine collection and sharing of our children's sensitive mental health and demographic data (such as gender identity and sexuality) obtained via classroom administered questionnaires? The Dept of Ed and the NCCA need to be reigned in, and reigned in quickly, because things are rapidly getting out of control. Everything that they are doing is a recipe for disaster. I don't just mean the politicisation of the curriculum and teaching of controversial ideologies. The turn towards student-directed, inquiry and project-based learning, and a less prescriptive, less knowledge rich curriculum will significantly harm students learning. While a less prescriptive curriculum is framed as a positive that supports "teacher autonomy", it will increase the burden on already overloaded teachers and, as we have seen happen elsewhere, lead to standards and student outcomes varying wildly from one school or teacher to the next, ultimately leading to greater inequality in academic achievement. The overemphasis on wellbeing means that teachers are now being asked to operate outside their competencies and there is significant risk that students' mental health and wellbeing will be negatively impacted instead of improved. @Nick_Delehanty @mullallyelaine @PaulTreyvaud @DavQuinn @ExCllrRedmond @sarahcatryan @john_mcguirk @griptmedia @Ben_Scallan @Niall_Boylan @JasonOsborne_GM @GL_Kavanagh @declanganley @CormacLucey @Toibin1 @1PaulLawless @kenoflynnTD @CNolanOffaly @JohnandSarahIrl @timcrowley_ @EoinLenihan

Australia, Germany, Canada & the Netherlands are taking action against Afghanistan under CEDAW over the Taliban's treatment of women and girls. This week I met with the Australian Afghan community and civil society representatives ahead of consultations on our initiative.

We are delighted that @AFAF_freespeech will support this event. We have almost ten academics who will join us on the day. Please make sure to follow AFAF and @DubUnisAFAF. They do tremendous work in this space.