letter from Dublin
Traditional marriage teaching removed from curriculum
Of concern to evangelicals is the recently updated Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum which is taught in all secondary schools across the Republic of Ireland.
The new SPHE curriculum for junior cycle students (aged 12–15) was updated in September 2023. Students engage in 100 hours of SPHE teaching over three years and the first cohort of students is now in the second year of the programme. The senior cycle curriculum for students aged 16–19 was updated in September 2024 and covers 60 hours of teaching.
letter from Dublin
400 women gather for Irish convention
Over 400 women gathered for the sold-out annual Dublin Women’s Convention in late October.
Now in its 14th year, the convention is organised by a committee of women from churches within the Dublin Gospel Partnership. Women from all across the Republic of Ireland attended the convention to hear Jen Wilkin, US author and Bible-teacher, deliver three sessions on the attributes of God under the theme of ‘Behold our God, Worshipping Rightly Through Reverence and Imitation’.
letter from Dublin
Small but united evangelical churches
Over 80,000 UK citizens live in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). With such close proximity to the UK, there are many similarities between our two countries. However, there are also many differences.
The differences are especially evident during the summer as primary-school children in the ROI enjoy a two month summer holiday, with secondary-school children having three months off!