Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland

11 September 2022

Religion and Belief in the Charities Amendment Bill

Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands about Religion and Belief in the Charities Amendment Bill. Contents 1. Introduction to Atheist Ireland 2. Our recommendation 3. Amend ‘Religion’ to ‘Religion or...

4 September 2022

Ireland needs a secular constitution, Atheist Ireland tells Seanad committee

Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the Seanad Public Consultation Committee on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland. Contents 1. Executive Summary 2. Recommendations 3. Remove Specific References to God 4. Replace Religious Oaths for Public Office Holders 5. Amend Articles...

26 August 2022

Back to school and back to fighting for your rights

Children are heading back to school, and parents are again left in the position that they must negotiate their Constitutional rights with the school. This is what minorities have to put up with in our Republic. Schools give no practical application to our Constitutional rights,...

25 August 2022

Robert Troy scandal reminds us why we must strengthen, not weaken, SIPO laws

The Robert Troy scandal is a reminder why we must strengthen, not weaken, the SIPO (Standards in Public Office) laws. They are intended to protect democracy from the undue influence of money on politics, whether that be through politicians having financial conflicts of interest or...

23 August 2022

Does the synodal process show that the State is endowing the Catholic Church in schools?

In a recent article in the Irish Times, Breda O’Brien reminds us that the Catholic Church is not a democracy so we should not expect radical change. The article is about the Catholic Church’s synodal process. It seems that many Catholics want change in the...

16 August 2022

Protecting the rights of children from religious discrimination in Irish schools

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child will be questioning Ireland next year. Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland, have made this joint submission to the UN on freedom of religion and belief in...

4 August 2022

The state pays €10m a year for Catholic school chaplains to help Catholic parents

The State pays Catholic and Church of Ireland Chaplains to help parents with the religious education and religious formation of their children. This funding costs the state approximately €10 million per year. This is the purpose of the funding of Chaplains in ETB Community and...

27 July 2022

UN again tells Ireland to provide secular schools and remove religious oaths

Atheist Ireland welcomes today’s concluding observations of the UN Human Rights Committee, which again tell Ireland to provide secular education by establishing non-denominational schools, and to further amend the Employment Equality Act to bar all forms of discrimination against teachers and medical workers. The UN...

14 July 2022

Pope confirms Catholic education is evangelisation

Pope Francis has confirmed that Catholic education is evangelisation, and has compared not speaking the truth about God in education to burning books, during a private reception in the Vatican on 22 April for educators including from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. He also told...

10 July 2022

Ireland misleads United Nations about nondenominational schools

Atheist Ireland had this letter published in the Irish Times this week following the UN Human Rights Committee questioning Ireland under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Minister Roderic O’Gorman told the UN Human Rights Committee this week that Ireland aims to have 400...