[9][11][12] It takes the view that crime is rising, family breakdown is increasing, and that drug abuse and other social problems are caused by fewer people obtaining opposite-sex marriages and participating in organised religion.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, a series of criminal cases and Irish government enquiries established that hundreds of Catholic priests had abused thousands of children over decades.

[17] The Iona Institute was formed in 2006 to promote Christian social teachings in an attempt to prevent and reverse the secularisation of Irish society.

[22][23] The use of "institute" has been challenged by notable public commentators such as Graham Norton who said "it is just a feeble attempt to give themselves a veneer of considered intellectual respectability.

"[24] David Norris referred to "the so-called Iona Institute" as "an unelected, unrepresentative group of reactionary, right-wing, religiously motivated people".

[27] Lolek also has self-described "patrons" associated with the company; the psychiatrist Patricia Casey, columnist Breda O'Brien, Roman Catholic priest Vincent Twomey, and Church of Ireland bishop Ken Clarke.

"[33] In 2013, Iona spokesperson Patricia Casey denied that it was specifically Catholic or Christian, saying "We support the role of religion in society but we're not a religiously-based organisation.

"[34] In 2014, John Murray said that the Church of Ireland bishop Ken Clarke's becoming a patron proved Iona's stances were "not specific to any particular Christian denomination.

However, it has been criticised as portraying itself as a secular organisation and avoiding the use of religious arguments in political campaigns; along with purposely hiding its affiliation with the Catholic Church.

[51][52][53][54][55][56] Senator David Norris criticised Iona's charitable status in a Seanad Éireann debate saying that it was "the most ideologically driven group I have come across and it is not a charity.

On 20 February, SIPO contacted Iona and asked them to consider whether they were required to register as a third party and to confirm whether they had received political donations exceed the €100 threshold and to reply before the 31 March deadline.

Iona explained that its change of policy was because it wanted to "play a fuller part" in the referendum and that intended to distribute "a minimum of half a million leaflets".

The Novae Terrae Foundation was identified as the immediate donor to the Iona Institute, after it had in turn benefited from €2.39 million from a Russian-Azerbaijani "laundromat" designed to channel funds to like-minded campaign groups.

[72] During the 2015 marriage referendum campaign, David Quinn admitted that a substantial amount of Iona's foreign funding, around €24,000, came from the Novae Terrae Foundation.

[74] Iona is closely linked with Agenda Europe; a secretive network of European ultra-conservative organisations which oppose LGBT rights, abortion, contraception, assisted reproduction technologies, surrogacy, euthanasia and divorce.

In 2015, the summit was held in Dublin where Iona directors David Quinn and Tom Finegan presented a talk on the Irish same-sex marriage referendum which occurred early that year.

The summits were attended by Luca Volontè, founder of the Novae Terrae Foundation which was exposed money-laundering and funnelling Russian-Azerbaijani funds into various right-wing religious groups in Europe, including Iona.

'"[84] An Iona Institute report called "The Fragmenting Family" drew heavily on data from the 2006 census and said that between 1986 and 2006 marital breakdown in Ireland rose by 500%.

[13] A 2010 report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) states that "[t]he evidence suggests no significant upward shift in marital breakdown as a result of the advent of divorce in 1997".

[86] In its submission to the Constitutional Convention, in opposition to same-sex marriage, the group cited a 2002 study conducted by the American non-governmental organisation Child Trends.

[91][92] In March 2009, the organisation commissioned a survey by polling company Red C which showed that only 47% of the population wished to send their children to a Roman Catholic school.

[93] At an April 2008 conference, the Iona Institute highlighted a posited move by the European Union, which would require Ireland to scrap Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act 2000.

[95] David Quinn, the director of the institute, said that removing the discrimination exemption "could impact very severely on the freedom of action of faith-based schools".

[100] In an article in The Irish Times by Kathy Sheridan on same-sex marriage, the group was described as being "blessed with extremely high-profile members with priceless multimedia platforms" and "'very, very engaged' with politicians".

[103] On 11 January 2014, the Iona Institute said it was defamed when accused of homophobia by the performer and gay rights activist Rory O'Neill in an interview on the RTÉ Saturday Night Show.

"[112] In a Dáil discussion on the issue, TDs, John Lyons, Jerry Buttimer, Michael Colreavy, Clare Daly, Luke Flanagan, Mick Wallace and Catherine Murphy also criticised the payment.