Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland

27 April 2017

Irish nun excommunicated for sanctioning an abortion

An Irish nun was excommunicated after she sanctioned an abortion to save a woman’s life in a Catholic hospital in Arizona in 2009. She was later allowed to return to the Church if she went to confession and resigned her position in the hospital. The...

22 April 2017

Vatican requires nuns to manage hospital assets in accordance with Canon Law

The Irish State is planning to give a €300 million National Maternity Hospital to the Sisters of Charity. The Minister for Health has said that “only doctors and other healthcare professionals would make decisions about women’s health in the planned new Hospital.” However, the Sisters...

20 April 2017

The new National Maternity Hospital board and the Vatican Charter for Healthcare Workers

Much of the commentary about the new National Maternity Hospital has focussed on money. It is of course outrageous that the State would gift a brand new hospital, worth hundred of millions of euro, to a religious order which still owes millions of euro to...

13 April 2017

The Religious Test to be Ceann Comhairle

The Ceann Comhairle of the Dail, Sean O Fearghail TD, has replied to Atheist Ireland’s letter about the Dail prayer. He has confirmed that the proposal that was scheduled for Tuesday will now instead be put to the house on its return after the Easter...

10 April 2017

Ask your TDs today to stop forcing parliamentarians to pray to ‘Christ Our Lord’

Update: following lobbying from Atheist Ireland and opposition from secular TDs, the Dail business committee decided today to postpone this vote until 2nd May, in order to allow time for debate. Please continue to contact your TDs about this between now and then. At 2.30...

6 April 2017

One in ten Irish now have no religion – more than all minority religions combined

Atheist Ireland held a successful campaign encouraging people with no religion to say so in the census. We welcome the following preliminary results from the census: One in ten Irish people (468,400) have no religion. That’s a 73% rise from 2011, which is the highest...

3 April 2017

Catholic Church has privileged position on political funding with SIPO

The Irish State has put in place laws that enable religious organisations (mainly the Catholic Church) to campaign on political issues such as the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and religious control of schools. But ethical secular organisations, including Atheist Ireland, get no such benefit...

29 March 2017

Yet another Council of Europe Report calls for end to religious discrimination in Irish schools

Atheist Ireland welcomes that the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, has told the Irish Government that the State is responsible for ending the breaches of human rights of atheist and minority faith pupils and parents in Irish schools. When Commissioner Muiznieks...

22 March 2017

Schools Admissions Process Submission

Submission to Department of Education Public Consultation Process on the role of Denominational Religion In the School Admissions Process On Monday Atheist Ireland sent the following to the Submission to Department of Education Public Consultation Process on the role of Denominational Religion In the School...

10 March 2017

It is beyond time to separate Church and State. Here’s how you can help to make it happen

With wave after wave of scandals continuing to wash over Ireland, arising from decades of religious influence on our laws and government, it is beyond time that we looked at the bigger picture. We need to go beyond addressing each individual scandal. We need to...