Malta should go back to the drawing board and re-draft its laws of legal separation to curb marital breakdown, according to David Quinn, one of Ireland's best known religious and social affairs commentators.

"You should say a strong 'no' to divorce and uphold the traditional family values," was his main advice for an audience gathered at the Catholic Institute on Friday.

"I would urge you not to get bogged down in a debate about divorce - that was the mistake of the anti-divorce lobbyists in Ireland. The issue of marital breakdown is bigger than the issue of divorce. Come up with a programme that supports the nature of marriage," he said as debate about the issue in Malta reaches parliamentary committee level.

During a talk organised by the Cana Movement, titled Divorce in Ireland - The Experience of Another Catholic Country, Mr Quinn spoke against the system of "no fault" legal separation, claiming this was one of the reasons for marital breakdown.

No-fault legal separation has been in practice in Malta since the early 1970s. It means a couple can be granted separation on the basis of incompatibility of character. Before the marriage law was amended in the 1970s, a couple could only separate if one of the parties was guilty of one of adultery, domestic violence or abandonment.

Mr Quinn, former editor of The Irish Catholic, is well known in his home country for his conservative opinions. Two years ago he founded the Iona Institute based in Dublin, which is a pro-family think-tank, based on marriage and the practice of religion.

Throughout his talk he made it clear legal separation and divorce fell under one umbrella, the only difference being that with divorce a person was able to remarry.

"In Ireland, two-thirds of couples in a broken marriage are separated, the rest are not bothered to divorce unless they want to marry again. If divorce is introduced in Malta, there won't be a rush either," he said.

A referendum on divorce was first held in Ireland in 1986 but was rejected by a substantial margin. In 1995 a second attempt was made and, after much controversy and public debate, the pro-divorce lobby won by a slim margin of 0.7 per cent.

"The fact that the divorce referendum was won that day was mainly due to the weather," said Mr Quinn. "It was sunny in most pro-divorce counties and pouring rain in the anti-divorce ones. Considering that the Church scandals were beginning to emerge and that all political parties and the media were pro-divorce, it was a miracle the vote was so close."

In Ireland, the rate of divorce was not accelerating but statistics showed the numbers remained down as a result of the older generation's attitude to family life. "In the UK where the culture of individualism has long set in, people in their 60s divorce as much as people in their 40s."

Over the past 12 years in Ireland, the rate of broken marriages had doubled - 13 per cent of the first marriages ended, compared to Malta's seven per cent. This was still low when compared to marital breakdown in the US or the UK but the traditional family was under pressure in Ireland, he said.

Irish politicians had become all talk about celebrating "family diversity" and undermined the social importance of marriage by doing away with the relative tax advantages of marriage.

"An American priest once said: adults may like family diversity but kids hate it. We are constantly told all a child needs is loving parents or even just one loving parent. But marriage is the most pro-child of social intentions, because it gives a child a mother and a father."

As a result the Irish family was changing fast: "The best way to track this change is that the number of children being raised in non-marital families is one in four; 190,000 Irish families are now headed by a lone parent."

He insisted, however, that divorce addressed the symptoms and not the cause of marital breakdown.

"You have to tackle the cause of marriage breakdown. Build an ethic of commitment. Teach kids how to critically evaluate soap operas. Teach them how to stick to commitments well chosen and well lived," he said.

If it were up to him, marriage vows would be changed to read: "I will put your happiness before mine and if we have children then their happiness will come before ours."

Through the Church's eye

Should divorce be introduced in Malta, Catholic believers would have the right to abstain from practices they considered wrong, Cana director Joseph Mizzi said.

Asked whether the Church's strong anti-divorce stand signalled a lack of confidence in its followers, he said he was not worried about this at all.

"If you're a Catholic you wouldn't even consider divorce. But we are concerned about the common good of society. That is why the Church is against divorce," he told The Times.

When it was pointed out that in reality legal separation in Malta was being loosely interpreted as divorce, with many separated individuals opting to cohabit with their new partner, Fr Mizzi insisted legal separation merely gave a couple the right to live apart.

"You are still married when separated. There might be a few who take up a partner but I am convinced the majority of separated couples are living in a correct manner."