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Lolek Ltd, Trading as 'The Iona Institute'

lazygal

Does anyone know anything about this organisation? Where it is funded from and by whom? Who runs it? Why it gets such a platform? I've been digging around a bit but its very difficult to find out anything about it.

I'm also mystified as to why David Quinn appears so often representing a relatively new body which seems to be largly self-appointed and why he is allowed such a platform.

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Brian Shanahan

Thread Title wrote:

Lolek Ltd, Trading as "The Iona Institute"

Woohoo! Sometimes the little people do win!

lazygal

As the person who started this thread, I feel redefining it like this is an attempt to silence me and will open the floodgates and all of threads will be redefined and the next thing threads will be aborted on demand.

GCU Flexible Demeanour

galljga1 wrote: »

That is an absolutely hilarious video particularly the waterways being polluted by oestrogen.

It's pretty much the only part of her belief system with a reasonable evidence base

http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/late-lessons-2/late-lessons-2-full-report/late-lessons-from-early-warnings

<...> ethinyloestradiol (EE2), an active ingredient in the birth control pill <...> is released to the aquatic environment via wastewater treatment plants. Although it is now clear that wildlife species are exposed to and impacted by a cocktail of endocrine disrupting chemicals, there is also reasonable scientific certainty that EE2 plays a significant role, and at vanishingly low levels in the environment.

<...> In 2012, nearly 75 years after its synthesis, the European Commission proposed to regulate EE2 as a EU-wide 'priority substance' under the Water Framework Directive (the primary legislation for protecting and conserving European water bodies). This proposal was subsequently amended, delaying any decision on a regulatory 'environmental quality standard' until at least 2016.

This is in part because control of EE2 will come at a significant price. Complying with proposed regulatory limits in the environment means removing very low (part per trillion) levels of EE2 from wastewater effluents at considerable expense.

More bothersome was Simon Harris grandstanding, as if our Constitution didn't assert that the Trinitarian Christian God is the only source of valid human authority.

In fairness, that woman's just overwhelmed in her search for a simpler life that she probably earnestly believes existed at some time in the past. And, unfortunately, all she's achieving is the granting of credibility to the time-wasting marriage referendum.

The Black Oil

Huh, Iona have gone and registered with SIPCO.

http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Reports/Register-of-Third-Parties/

Trying to boost credibility?

Michael Nugent

Here is some background to this.

On 20 February, The Standards Commission wrote to the Iona Institute (and to other organisations known to the Commission) and asked them to consider whether or not they should register as a third party with the Commission, and to confirm whether or not they had received a donation, given for political purposes, in excess of €100.

On 4 March, the Iona Institute responded to the Commission, and confirmed that they had not received any donations for political purposes that exceeded €100, and therefore they did not consider that any requirement to register as a third party with the Standards Commission arose.

On 17 April, Atheist Ireland wrote to the Standards Commission asking why three organisations were not registered with them (the Catholic Church, the Humanist Association of Ireland, and the Iona Institute). We gave the Commission examples of these organisations carrying out activities that are captured by the definition of political purposes.

On 20 April, the Commission responded to Atheist Ireland. They told us that In the absence of concrete evidence that a group has accepted a donation, given for political purposes, in excess of €100, it is the Commission's practice to accept a group's declaration that it has considered it should register as a third party and the group's confirmation that it has not accepted such a donation. The Commission added that, should any person have actual evidence (not hearsay) that a group has made a false declaration to the Commission then the Commission would be grateful to receive such evidence.

On 23 April, the Iona Institute registered with the Commission, and it now appears on the register of third parties. This means that the Iona Institute has now confirmed that it has accepted a donation, given for political purposes, in excess of €100, having told the Commission the opposite just seven weeks ago.

robindch

^^^ More on that here:

http://atheist.ie/2015/04/iona-institute-sipo-u-turn/

Nodin

robindch wrote: »

^^^ More on that here:

http://atheist.ie/2015/04/iona-institute-sipo-u-turn/

So if this effectively marks them as lobbyists, what does it do to their 'charitable' status?

fisgon

Michael Nugent wrote: »

Here is some background to this

On 17 April, Atheist Ireland wrote to the Standards Commission asking why three organisations were not registered with them (the Catholic Church, the Humanist Association of Ireland, and the Iona Institute). We gave the Commission examples of these organisations carrying out activities that are captured by the definition of political purposes.

.

I get why you have called attention to Iona and the Catholic church, but why go after the Humanist Association? It seems that AI and HAI should be generally on the same side...

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Shrap

fisgon wrote: »

I get why you have called attention to Iona and the Catholic church, but why go after the Humanist Association? It seems that AI and HAI should be generally on the same side...

Presumably because they're non-compliant? Just a guess!

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

[Deleted User]

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Yes

Michael Nugent

Nodin wrote: »

So if this effectively marks them as lobbyists, what does it do to their 'charitable' status?

Charities are allowed to politically lobby as long as their lobbying is directly related to their charitable aims.*

The Iona Institute's charitable aims are the advancement and promotion of the Christian religion and its social and moral values.

They can only lobby on issues directly related to that.

So if they present arguments that they claim are secular in nature, we can highlight that they re only allowed to politically lobby on issues that advance Christianity and Christian values.

* With one exception, which is that charities that are registered to nominate secular marriage solemnisers cannot politically lobby at all.

robindch

Anna Nolan explains to Lolek Ltd's Breda O'Brien that instructing people to abstain from sex does not make them better people:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/anna-nolan-to-breda-obrien-i-abstained-for-three-years-when-i-was-training-to-be-a-nun-i-wasnt-a-better-person-31158548.html

GCU Flexible Demeanour

robindch wrote: »

Anna Nolan explains to Lolek Ltd's Breda O'Brien that instructing people to abstain from sex does not make them better people:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/anna-nolan-to-breda-obrien-i-abstained-for-three-years-when-i-was-training-to-be-a-nun-i-wasnt-a-better-person-31158548.html

If only there were more people like Anna Nolan.

Nodin

GCU Flexible Demeanour wrote: »

If only there were more people like Anna Nolan.

Well, as a model she would be preferable to the Breda O'Briens and McMathunas of the world.

Brian Shanahan

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes

And now for something completely different:

Emmet, why are you invoking the writer of the world on your sig?

And yes, I know the Poles greatly loved and reverenced Pterry.

MrPudding

Brian Shanahan wrote: »

Woohoo! Sometimes the little people do win!

And to celebrate their new status I have donated €0.01 to them via PayPal.

MrP

Hotblack Desiato

MrPudding wrote: »

And to celebrate their new status I have donated €0.01 to them via PayPal.

MrP

Or, more traditionally, I wonder would placing a reverse charges call and giving your name as Pope Francis work?

Operator : "Will you accept a call from 'Pope Francis' ?"

Iona : Oh feck, oh feck, it's almost certainly a prank but then I have to say that I don't want to accept a call from 'Pope Francis'. Conflicted.

The Black Oil

Can't imagine Iona saying feck to Len. I mean, Bishop Brennan.

Vivisectus

RTE clarifies it's standards a bit for all of us:

Saying that you think Iona is bigoted on TV = terrible oppression

Claiming gay people are much more likely to abuse children = a OK, even if the study you quote states no such thing!

http://www.skepticink.com/humanisticas/2015/05/06/bai-rule-thats-ok-to-suggest-lgbt-parents-abuse-their-children-physically-and-mentally-even-though-its-not-true/

Hotblack Desiato

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=95420990&postcount=9105

Breda O'Brien wails about Atlantic Philanthropies' funding of GLEN, while Lolek's funding remains unknown.

robindch

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Breda O'Brien wails about Atlantic Philanthropies' funding of GLEN, while Lolek's funding remains unknown.

Oireachtas Retort replies to BOB in a forthright fashion:

http://oireachtasretort.tumblr.com/post/118538922950/breda-obrien-is-full-of-****

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

The Black Oil

American funding is only an issue now, not 6 months. Throwing anything and seeing what sticks, I guess.

Those pesky indiegogo campaigns must be a conspiracy so.

Hotblack Desiato

I read BO'Bs column as softening up the No side for the consolation of a 'moral victory' when they lose the vote.

They wouldn't be writing a column like that if they were confident of winning.

Also she didn't ask for money but no doubt some readers got the message between the lines.

Shrap

"When I tell you that absolutely none of that is true of Iona because it has never received any American money and never had instant access to key politicians"

I wonder if funding can be discounted as American money if it's funnelled through Opus Dei?

Also, Ronan Mullen? Could hardly call him a key politician I suppose.

Again though, considering the insanely influential successes of Opus Dei in lobbying and (presumably) buying government policies (through big business contracts, etc.) since the inception of our state, and how secretive they are about who exactly are their super-numeraries, we're hardly likely to find out the links between Iona/Opus Dei and the "key politicians" they have most definitely have had instant access to.

LostinKildare

It might also be instructive to look at whether Iona gets any money from the Dublin chapter of Tom Monaghan's Catholic millionaires' club Legatus (and if so, where, in turn, that money comes from). I believe the Dublin chapter is the only one outside the US [correction: outside the US and Canada].

Bock the Robber joined the dots between Iona and Legatus a couple of years ago here
http://bocktherobber.com/2013/06/what-exactly-is-the-iona-institute/
As an update, the Iona patron James Sheehan (founder of Blackrock, Galway, and Hermitage Clinics) is presently the President of Legatus Dublin
http://www.legatus.org/chapters/leadership?chapter=Dublin
I see that James Reilly, when he was Minister for Health, officiated at the launch of Sheehan's book. So certainly it can be said that Iona patrons have had access to "key politicians."

I also see that the US ambassador to Ireland, Kevin O'Malley, is scheduled to address Legatus Dublin in October http://www.legatus.org/content/programmes?chapter=Dublin
As a US citizen, I'm very disturbed by this. O'Malley is a Democrat, appointed by Obama, so what's he doing speaking to this right-wing, anti-gay, anti-ObamaCare and anti-Obama organization? Gonna fire off a letter to someone.

The Black Oil

robindch wrote: »

Oireachtas Retort replies to BOB in a forthright fashion:

http://oireachtasretort.tumblr.com/post/118538922950/breda-obrien-is-full-of-****

The audio from the Marian Finucane has Breda talking about Iona being a platform for those who feel their views are not represented. Is she talking about media coverage only here? It's not as if there's a daily call to prayer or dominance in the education system...

Shrap

OOh, loving this:

http://bocktherobber.com/godsquad/godsquad.html

They've missed out a number of notable connections but it's a good start. Get in there and pull some Ionanists out of place....