David Quinn (columnist)

David Quinn
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.

Activities

Iona Institute

In January 2007 Quinn founded the Iona Institute, a Roman Catholic advocacy group promoting families based on traditional marriage and the practice of religion.[3] He is the current Director of the Iona Institute.[4]

Abortion

David Quinn supported Ireland's previous near total ban on abortion, and has appeared many times in popular debates on the topic of abortion in Ireland, to defend the Eighth Amendment.

Euthanasia

David Quinn has campaigned against the legalisation of euthanasia.[5]

LGBT rights

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]

References

"To study, live, and spread the Catholic Faith in our business, professional, and personal lives". Legatus of Dublin.
"Qualifications". Legatus.
Tighe, Mark (25 October 2009). "Gay activists attack bill optout plan". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 12 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
"Personnel and Patrons". Iona Institute.
Quinn, David (10 June 2016). "Live and Let Die we are condoning suicide if we permit assisted suicide". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
Kearns, David (26 January 2016). "Bill to prevent sacking of gay teachers". Irish Independent. 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.
Quinn, David (22 April 2014). "The de facto sacking of Brendan Eich and Section 37". Iona Institute. 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.
"Submission to the Equality Authority on Section 37 of the Employment Equality Acts" (PDF). Iona Institute. November 2013. We recommend that Section 37 be retained.
Quinn, David (11 May 2017). "The Government has ordained; the sex you are is totally unrelated to your body". 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.
Quinn, David (12 March 2010). "We'll pay a heavy price for allowing same-sex unions". Irish Independent.
Minihan, Mary (4 December 2009). "Mixed reaction to Civil Partnership Bill". The Irish Times.
"In Early Vote Count, Ireland Appears Headed Toward Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage". The New York Times. 23 May 2015.
"Marriage referendum".
David Quinn [@DavQuinn] (13 May 2015). "Proposed change to marriage 'grotesque nonsense' www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/marriage-referendum-1.2209712#.VVMaC-tReX0.twitter … Great letter by Prof John A Murphy in @IrishTimes today #MarRef" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016 – via Twitter.
"Grotesqueries". Broadsheet. 13 May 2015.
"Panti Bliss / Pantibar". 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016. 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.

External links

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[1] "To study, live, and spread the Catholic Faith in our business, professional, and personal lives". Legatus of Dublin.

[2] "Qualifications". Legatus.

[3] Tighe, Mark (25 October 2009). "Gay activists attack bill optout plan". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 12 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.

[4] "Personnel and Patrons". Iona Institute.

[5] Quinn, David (10 June 2016). "Live and Let Die we are condoning suicide if we permit assisted suicide". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 March 2017.

[6] Kearns, David (26 January 2016). "Bill to prevent sacking of gay teachers". Irish Independent. 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.

[7] Quinn, David (22 April 2014). "The de facto sacking of Brendan Eich and Section 37". Iona Institute. 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.

[8] "Submission to the Equality Authority on Section 37 of the Employment Equality Acts" (PDF). Iona Institute. November 2013. We recommend that Section 37 be retained.

[9] Quinn, David (11 May 2017). "The Government has ordained; the sex you are is totally unrelated to your body". 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.

[10] Quinn, David (12 March 2010). "We'll pay a heavy price for allowing same-sex unions". Irish Independent.

[11] Minihan, Mary (4 December 2009). "Mixed reaction to Civil Partnership Bill". The Irish Times.

[12] "In Early Vote Count, Ireland Appears Headed Toward Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage". The New York Times. 23 May 2015.

[13] "Marriage referendum".

[14] David Quinn [@DavQuinn] (13 May 2015). "Proposed change to marriage 'grotesque nonsense' www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/marriage-referendum-1.2209712#.VVMaC-tReX0.twitter … Great letter by Prof John A Murphy in @IrishTimes today #MarRef" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016 – via Twitter.

[15] "Grotesqueries". Broadsheet. 13 May 2015.

[16] "Panti Bliss / Pantibar". 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016. 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.