If you read the comment immediately below this one you'll be acquainted with the 'headline' items from Census 2006 so far as marriage and the family in Ireland is concerned.

Census 2006 confirms that marriage in Ireland is in trouble. The figures speak for themselves. The number of divorced, separated or remarried people is up almost 30pc in just four years and now stands at just under 200,000 people. Even more strikingly, since 1986 the number of people who have experienced marital breakdown has grown by over 500pc.

The news that the Government are considering recognising prenuptial agreements is a telling sign of the state of marriage in Celtic Tiger Ireland. Prenuptial agreements are contracts drawn up in anticipation of the legal dissolution of a marriage. The contracts state exactly what is to happen to the couples assets in the case of divorce or separation. Where once we regarded marital breakdown as a plague, now we seem resigned to it.

In an unprecedented move, Christian, Jewish and Muslim Church leaders in Lyon (France) have come together to issue a joint declaration defending marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Brought together by Cardinal Archbishop Barbarin and Chief Rabbi Wertenschlag its eight highly-placed signatories agree that the issue of legally authorizing marriage between two people of the same sex is not a debatable point. Such a proposal is above and beyond religious and ideological differences, it advocates a change that is unheard of in the history of humanity. It is not the truth, they continue, to claim that it is a matter of indifference whether a child grows up with a father and a mother.

Fr Daniel Maguire is an American theologian who turned up in the High Court last year to give evidence on behalf the lesbian couple Ann Louise Gilligan and Katherine Zappone.

Brazil is considering a law to ban anything considered a condemnation of homosexuality. That seems remarkably wide-ranging. According to the news agency, Zenit, the law would affect priests who preach the Church's teaching in this regard, as well as seminary rectors who would refuse admission to a homosexual student.

Supporters of The Iona Institute might be interested to know that one of the leading figures in the 'marriage movement' in the US, David Blankenhorn, has published a new book called 'The Future of Marriage' which examines how fast-developing social trends are badly threatening this age-old institution.

In his column in today's Irish Times Fintan O'Toole addresses Bertie Ahern's recent comments about “aggressive secularism”. Against the Taoiseach, O'Toole reckons there is no such thing, not in Ireland at any rate.

Recent polls show that the Conservative Party are now at the highest in the polls since they were last in Government 10 years ago. Interestingly, one of the key planks in their leader, David Cameron's platform has been support for the family.

An important case is before the American courts. It involves a four year old girl called Isabella Miller-Jenkins. She was conceived via IVF. Her biological father, a sperm-donor, is unknown. Her mother, Lisa Miller, was living with her lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins, at the time of Isabella's birth.

The modern sexual ethic is as follows: anything goes between consenting adults. At first, this was simply taken to mean that the prohibition on sex outside marriage should be lifted. That's what made it so popular. We were told that neither the State nor society had any right to invade people's bedrooms so long as what was taking place inside was between those aforementioned consenting adults. As a general political principle, this had something to be said for it.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's keynote speech launching a “structured dialogue” between the State and the Churches caused a minor flurry of reaction from opinion columnists. One the one hand, Kevin Rafter blasted the Taoiseach for having a “nasty swipe” at aggressive secularists, the people Mr Ahern dubbed as “illiberal voices”. On the other John Waters praised him for a profound contribution to the public debate.

Yesterday's report from the Government on child welfare told us little we did not already know. Two in five 15 years old have tried drugs. That's one thing we didn't know, and it's worrying

Amid all the political jockeying for position over marriage and the family, a letter in today's London Times from Baroness Deech of Oxford puts the issue at hand quite succinctly. Here's the letter in full.

A political row over family policy is building in Britain with the Tories saying marriage matters and the Labour party insisting it doesn't. Conservative leader, David Cameron, is linking family breakdown and the decline in marriage and the two-parent family with social problems such as crime.

The wording of the proposed children's rights amendment has now been published. For purposes of analysis, it can be divided up into three broad parts. One deals with the relationship between parents and the State vis a vis children.

The Court Services has just put out a report by Irish Times journalist, Carol Coulter, on the operation of family law cases in our courts. The report is called 'Family Law Matters'.

The UN report mentioned in the last blog entry provides very interesting comparisons between Ireland and other economically developed countries.

Yesterday, the Labour Party unveiled its election poster. The slogan? “But, are you happy?” No message could be more clearly calculated to capture the political zeitgeist. Gone are the days when the message was “It's the economy, stupid.” Now, quality of life issues trump economics hands down.