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David Quinn (columnist)

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David Quinn
NationalityIrish
EducationSt Paul's College, Raheny
Alma materNIHE Dublin
OccupationJournalist
OrganisationIona Institute
Known forConservative 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

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Iona Institute

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Main article: Iona Institute

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

Abortion

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See also: Abortion in the Republic of Ireland

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

Euthanasia

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

LGBT rights

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See also: LGBT rights in the Republic of Ireland and LGBT rights opposition

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][non-primary source needed]

Climate change denial

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Quinn is highly outspoken in his denial of both the severity of climate change and the role that humans have played in perpetuating the Climate crisis.[17]

Many of his objections to climate action - from carbon taxes to cutting emissions - focus solely on the economic impact that such actions would have.[18][19] This is despite overwhelming evidence that climate action will ultimately create jobs and cost less than not taking action.[20][21][22][23][24]

In 2014 he made claims that the Irish Government would need to permit fracking in Ireland to address the growing demand for energy, while also sharing his opinion that the 2007 IPCC report was inaccurate.[25] The Houses of the Oireachtas subsequently published a report into the harmful effects on environment and humans that fracking could have in Ireland,[26] which led to a law being passed in 2017 banning the practice of fracking in Ireland.[27][28]

In 2019, Quinn was noted for his outspoken comments targeting climate activist Greta Thunberg, using his appearances on radio stations and his social media channels to attack the youth climate movement.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "To study, live, and spread the Catholic Faith in our business, professional, and personal lives". Legatus of Dublin. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Qualifications". Legatus. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Personnel and Patrons". Iona Institute. 6 January 2010. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  5. ^ Quinn, David (10 June 2016). "Live and Let Die we are condoning suicide if we permit assisted suicide". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  6. ^ Kearns, David (26 January 2016). "Bill to prevent sacking of gay teachers". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017. 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. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017. 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. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 November 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017. 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". Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017. 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. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  11. ^ Minihan, Mary (4 December 2009). "Mixed reaction to Civil Partnership Bill". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  12. ^ "In Early Vote Count, Ireland Appears Headed Toward Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage". The New York Times. 23 May 2015. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Marriage referendum". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  14. ^ David Quinn [@DavQuinn] (13 May 2015). "Proposed change to marriage 'grotesque nonsense' http://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. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Panti Bliss / Pantibar". Facebook. 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.
  17. ^ "David Quinn: Doom-mongers hog climate change headlines". www.thetimes.co.uk. The Times. 15 August 2021.
  18. ^ "David Quinn: Eco-radicals are ignoring our economic doom". www.thetimes.co.uk. The Times. 29 September 2019.
  19. ^ "David Quinn: Politicians in denial over cost of going green". www.thetimes.co.uk. The Times. 31 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Fact Sheet. Climate Jobs (2021)". www.eesi.org. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. 23 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Explainer: Here's how the government's ambitious retrofitting grant scheme is meant to work". www.thejouranl.ie. The Journal. 9 February 2022.
  22. ^ "Stopping climate change could cost less than fighting covid-19". Washington Post. 17 September 2020.
  23. ^ "Climate transition delay could cost the UK trillions". www.theconversation.com. The Conversation. 2 December 2021.
  24. ^ "'We need to deal with climate change': Government rejects call to delay Carbon Tax hike". www.thejournal.ie. The Journal. 8 February 2022.
  25. ^ "Global warming leaves us a stark choice – fracking or nuclear power". www.independent.ie. Irish Independent. 4 April 2014.
  26. ^ "Fracking could have harmful effect on the environment and humans – Communications, Climate Action & Environmental Committee report". www.oireachtas.ie. Houses of the Oireachtas. 12 April 2017.
  27. ^ "Ireland joins France, Germany and Bulgaria in banning fracking". www.irishtimes.com. The Irish Times. 28 June 2017.
  28. ^ "Calls grow of an Irish-led global ban on fracking". www.greennews.ie. Green News. 25 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Teenage climate protestors were born of our abuse of the planet". www.irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 24 September 2019.
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