An organisation which is heavily funded by British taxpayers is sponsoring a controversial conference promoting the legalisation of same-sex adoption in Ireland.
The British Council, which is responsible for promoting British ideas and achievements throughout the world, is backing the Voices for Children conference next month.
The conference is being hosted by the campaign group Marriage Equality, an organisation which is attempting to fundamentally alter the definition of marriage in Ireland.
Funding
According to the campaign group’s website next month’s conference “will launch Marriage Equality’s groundbreaking research, documenting the experiences of children growing up in Ireland with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) parents.”
The British Council received more than £200 million, approximately a third of the organisation’s overall budget, in Government funding during 2008/9.
The contentious conference is also being sponsored by the European Union Progress Fund, the Dutch Government and the Equality Authority.
Interfering
Irish Senator Ronan Mullen accused the EU of interfering in domestic politics.
He said: “The funding of this conference highlights an issue that caused many Irish voters to reject the Lisbon Treaty – the problem of ‘competence creep’ in the European Union.”
“This happens when European institutions such as the European Commission and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) extend their policy and decision-making into areas that are supposed to be matters for individual member states,” he added.
Taxpayers
Earlier this month it was revealed that a Scottish council is set to shower thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a controversial homosexual arts festival despite facing large budget cuts.
Glasgow City Council is facing cuts of nearly £200 million, and has begun a cost cutting exercise which is expected to see 2,800 workers leave their jobs over the next year.
But the Council is still planning to spend £25,000 on the highly contentious Glasgay! festival, a decision which was branded as “absurd” by critics.
Glasgay! caused a storm of controversy last year after it featured a play, entitled Jesus, Queen of Heaven, which depicted Jesus Christ as a transsexual woman.