Search results for: welfare

By Harry McGee.  Legislation giving effect to civil partnerships passed all stages in the Seanad by 48 to four votes tonight.The first civil registrations for same-sex couples are likely to take place next January following overwhelming approval of the enabling legislation by the Oireachtas tonight.The…

By Fionnan Sheahan.  Same-sex couples will be able to avail of legally-binding civil partnerships for the first time from next year.The Dáil last night completed its work on the Civil Partnership Bill, which is expected to be signed into law in the autumn.The Bill passed…

Civil society and government can learn key lessons from the humanitarian responses to the displacement of thousands of people in South Africa as a result of attacks against foreigners in 2008, according to this report by the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. This report…

President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night was a critical turning point in the fight to achieve quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Reform is within reach if we stay involved, work together and make our voices heard over the…

Several Atlantic grantees are mentioned in this article. by ALISON HEALY AN ALLIANCE of groups has launched a campaign to encourage older people to highlight their needs when election candidates come calling in the coming weeks. The Older And Bolder alliance said its “On the…

By Ian Wilhelm. In 1975, Le Nhan Phuong left Vietnam, one of about 2,000 child refugees spirited to America by international aid groups. Today, he has returned to his homeland, but now it is he who is helping others. Dr. Phuong is the newly appointed…

by Mary Regan AT least 2,010 people with disabilities will lose EUR6,500 a year because of measures introduced in Budget 2009, according to Fine Gael who said this was more confirmation that the most vulnerable have been targeted. The Disability Allowance, which was previously paid…

THE cutting of child benefit payments to those over the age of 18 could exclude children from lower-income families from third-level education and may even prevent others from completing secondary school, children's groups said yesterday. In his Budget, Brian Lenihan announced that benefit payments for…

Laws provide the skeletal frame of a social order but while laws in theory and by tradition serve the cause of justice, they can easily be, and often are, used to reinforce a repressive regime. Here James A. Goldston and Martin O’Brien reflect on the…

"Audacious philanthropy" can save lives. One example is The Atlantic Philanthropies' push for a helmet law in Viet Nam.