Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the National Conversation on Education, hosted by the Department of Education. Feel free to use the information here to prepare your own submission to the Conversation. You can make your own submission, at this link, by this Saturday, 28 February.
Summary of this Submission
In many areas, the Convention must find the best option among competing preferences. This issue is different. Everyone in the Education system must legally comply with two things:
The requirements of the Irish Constitution, including the right to freedom of conscience and to attend state-funded schools without attending religious instruction; and Ireland’s international human rights obligations, including the European Convention on Human Rights.
As far ago as 1995, the White Paper on Education committed to setting up a working party to develop guidelines to protect the rights of students who do not share the school’s ethos. Despite this, our rights remain unprotected thirty years later.
The UK Supreme Court recently found that religion in schools in Northern Ireland breaches the European Convention, as the teaching is not objective, critical and pluralistic. It also held that the exemption process from religion was stigmatising for children and discriminatory.
We in the Republic have the exact same human rights under the European Convention, and the Good Friday Agreement which guarantees comparable human rights on both sides of the border. But in reality, our children do not have these rights in Irish schools.
There are now eighteen concluding observation/recommendations from various United Nations and Council of Europe Committees in relation to the Irish Education system. Ireland will continue to face such criticism until it puts in place law and policy to protect human rights.
Submission to Conversation on Education
Atheist Ireland is an independent advocacy body with UN Special Consultative Status, and a participant in the State dialogue process with faith and non-confessional bodies. We represent families who seek secular, non-denominational education, grounded in human-rights standards.
In many areas, the Convention must find the best option among competing preferences. This issue is different. Everyone involved in the Education system must legally comply with:
- The requirements of the Irish Constitution, including the right to freedom of conscience and to attend state-funded schools without attending religious instruction; and
- Ireland’s international human rights obligations, including the European Convention on Human Rights, which this submission addresses in more detail.
We do not believe the Irish constitution is incompatible with our international obligations. In the Campaign case in 1996, the High Court said parents have more rights under the Irish Constitution than under human rights law. Instead, we believe the state is not taking ‘sufficient care’ in respecting our rights.
This is not a new issue. As far ago as 1995, the White paper on Education said: “while recognising and supporting the denominational ethos of schools, all schools will be required … to ensure that the rights of those who do not subscribe to the school’s ethos are protected” including by “the development of good practice guidelines by a suitably qualified and representative working party convened by the Department … Such a working party will be convened in the near future.”
The Forum on Patronage in 2012 made similar recommendations. Despite this, and continued criticism from the UN and Council of Europe, our rights remain unprotected thirty years later.
Access to the human right to objective, critical, and pluralistic education and teaching
In a recent UK Supreme Court case in relation to religion in schools in Northern Ireland the court held that there was a breach of Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention, as there was no access to education and teaching that was objective, critical and pluralistic. It also held that the exemption process from religion was stigmatising for children and discriminatory. The court held that this amounted to indoctrination under the Convention.
We in the Republic have the exact same human rights under the European Convention, given the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 and the Good Friday Agreement which guarantees comparable human rights on both sides of the border. Without objective, critical and pluralistic education, the Irish state is pursuing an aim of indoctrination by not respecting parents’ convictions. And exemptions alone are not sufficient to ensure respect for parents’ convictions, as there is also a right to access objective, critical, and pluralistic education.
But in reality, our children do not have access to education that is objective, critical and pluralistic, and there are no non-discriminatory exemptions. None of the Patron Programmes, or the State religion courses, are objective, critical and pluralistic. Under the Education Act 1998 (S. 15-2-b), Boards of Management are obliged to uphold the ethos of the Patron. There is no official inspection process and statutory guidelines to ensure that education and teaching is objective, critical and pluralistic and that the exemption process is non-discriminatory.
The UK Supreme Court stated that “conveying knowledge in a manner which is not objective, critical, and pluralistic on the one hand and indoctrination on the other are … different sides of the same coin. Conveying knowledge in that manner amounts to pursuing the aim of indoctrination.”This Supreme court case is significant given the Good Friday Agreement and the obligation to have comparable human rights, north and south.
The European Court has already held that, “the State cannot be released from its positive obligation to protect simply because a child selects one of the State-approved education options” (para 151 O’Keeffe v Ireland 2014). In one of the recent Burke cases at the Court of Appeal In the Burke case at the Court of Appeal in 2023, Justice Whelan stated that in interpreting the obligations of a Board of Management pursuant to the Education Act 1998, regard must be had to the terms of the European Convention.
Human Rights recommendations
There are now eighteen concluding observation/recommendations from various United Nations and Council of Europe Committees in relation to the Irish Education system. Guaranteeing our human rights in the education system has never been a priority for the Irish state. Ireland will continue to face such criticism until it puts in place law and policy to protect human rights.
Submissions to Oireachtas Committees
Atheist Ireland has sent the following Submissions to various Oireachtas Committees regarding the failure of the state to protect our Constitutional and human rights in the education system.
Petitions Committee – The right to not attend religious instruction.
Public Accounts Committee – Constitutional condition for state aid to schools.
Education Committee – Failure of the state to respect our philosophical beliefs.
Good Friday Agreement Committee – Comparable human rights on both sides of the border.