Michael Clifford: For the love of God, can't the Church stay away from sex? 

In a grown-up society, every parent would have a choice as to whether or not their children be introduced to relationship and sexuality education by a collection of bishops. That they don't is a shocking indictment in a liberal democracy

This week a new relationship and sexuality education programme for Catholic primary schools, developed by the Irish Bishops Conference, was published. The programme, entitled Flourish, is discriminatory and in conflict with the Irish Constitution.

A few years back, I asked my son what he knew about the Apostles. We were sitting on the upper deck of a bus. He looked out the window, had a think, and said, “Was there a thing about a brunch?” A what? He shrugged. 

It took me a while to cop his thought process. He knew there was something about a meal and that it wasn’t one of the three square a day. His generation are more likely to encounter a brunch than a supper.