Iona Institute

Iona Institute
EstablishedJanuary 2007; 17 years ago (2007-01)
FounderDavid Quinn
TypeNGO
PurposeAdvancement and promotion of the Christian religion and its social and moral values.[1]
Location
  • 23 Merrion Square, Dublin
Chairman
John Murray
Director
David Quinn
Key people
Websiteionainstitute.ie

Lolek CLG, operating under the business name the Iona Institute, is an Irish, socially conservative organisation that advocates the advancement and promotion of the Christian religion and its social and moral values.[2][3] It has been frequently described as a Catholic pressure group.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Founded by columnist David Quinn, it was launched publicly in 2007.

Iona promotes conservative Christian values and opposes abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, same-sex marriage, civil partnerships, lifting restrictions on divorce, adoptions by same-sex couples, sperm donation, egg donation, surrogacy and the children's rights referendum.[9][11][12] It takes the view that crime is rising, family breakdown is increasing, and that drug abuse and other social problems are caused by fewer people obtaining opposite-sex marriages and participating in organised religion.[13] The institute has released a number of reports and has also hosted talks in support of its aims. Quinn and other prominent members have weekly columns in Ireland's mainstream press.

In 2022, Iona was included in a list of extremist groups by the Global Project against Hate and Extremism,[14] for which Iona was reportedly "consider[ing] legal action".[15]

  1. ^ "Memorandum of Association of Lolek Limited". Companies Registration Office. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Iona Institute says IDA call for Yes vote on marriage 'completely unacceptable'". The Irish Times. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  3. ^ "In quotes: Irish same-sex marriage debate". BBC News. 21 May 2015.
  4. ^ Coleman, Marc (20 April 2008). "Church-run schools can keep atheists off their staff". Sunday Independent. Ireland. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  5. ^ Duffy, Nick (26 October 2014). "Drag queen: Irish broadcaster RTE threw me under the bus over Catholic homophobe row". Pink News. United Kingdom. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  6. ^ Cooper, Matt (17 May 2013). "If Bruton wants to preach from the pulpit, he should give up his pension". Irish Examiner. Ireland. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Political pressure groups and leaders". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  8. ^ Reidy, Padraig (17 January 2014). "Ireland: Legal threats from Catholic commentators put drag artist Panti in a twist". Index on Censorship. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  9. ^ a b Tighe, Mark (25 October 2009). "Gay activists attack bill optout plan". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  10. ^ Murphy, Cormac. "HSE to review case of woman who was denied an abortion". Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Domestic Partnerships: A response to recent proposals on civil unions" (PDF). Iona Institute. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2007.
  12. ^ McGuire, Peter (5 November 2012). "Ireland's Catholic Far Right: Still Imposing Their Views on Women and Children". HuffPost. UK. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  13. ^ Finlay, Fergus (18 September 2007). "Broken marriages: the floodgates are a long way from bursting yet". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  14. ^ "New GPAHE Report Profiles Far-Right Hate and Extremist Groups in Ireland". Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. 21 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  15. ^ Burns, John. "Christian group Iona Institute branded 'extremist and hateful' considers legal action". The Times. Retrieved 28 August 2022.