Atheist Ireland has recently written to all constituent candidates asking them six questions on secular issues.
Many of them have now responded and we will be publishing their replies as they come in.
What can you do:
Offer assistance to candidates who support our policies.
Please choose the candidate that most supports a rational, ethical, secular Ireland.
Ask candidates in your constituency the same questions when they call to their door or by contacting the candidates directly.
The questions we asked were:
-
- 1. Will you work to reform the education system so that all children in your constituency can access publicly-funded schools which have no religious ethos?
-
- 2. Would you support a referendum to remove religious references from the Constitution?
-
- 3. Do you believe that blasphemy should be a criminal offence?
-
- 4. Would you support legislation to prevent hospitals from having a religious ethos?
-
- 5. If elected, would you vote to ensure that religious bodies are treated the same as other organisations under equality and employment legislation?
- 6. Do you believe that religions should have to pay their fair share of tax on income that does not come from charitable activities?
You can find candidate responses on our Information page (at the top of this page) under the 2011 General Election tab. All responses are listed by Constituency.
If any of your local candidates are not represented here, it may be helpful if they are contacted by you as a constituent. Atheist Ireland has a letter which we would ask our members and supporters to use when contacting candidates directly – for a copy, contact Conor McGrath at lobbying@atheist.ie
Link to our 2011 General Election page