John Hamill

John Hamill

18 April 2017

“Medical Ethics” at the Mater Hospital

In the context of the ongoing controversy about the new National Maternity Hospital being given to a religious order, it is instructive to look at what it means for State-funded public services to be run by private faith-based organisations. The Mater Hospital is run by...

29 January 2017

Freedom of Conscience in the USA

In an interview with the Christian Broadcast Network, the American President Donald Trump has stated that he will introduce a new policy to prioritise Christians within the asylum process. Atheist Ireland is opposed to such policies, as an overt abuse of the human right to...

13 August 2016

Freedom Of Expression Is For Christians Too

Atheist Ireland has this week written an open letter to every TD in the Cavan-Monaghan Constituency and every member of Monaghan County Council. The full text of this letter is reproduced below.   Dear Minister Humphreys, As an elected representative for the Monaghan area, I...

23 July 2016

Atheist Ireland Campaign Results in Open Tender for Dundalk IT Chaplain

Recently, Atheist Ireland announced the successful outcome of our two-year campaign for reform of the State funded chaplaincy system at third level. No longer will colleges secretly award public funds to their local bishop for chaplaincy services, without advertisement, tender or interview. Instead, the HEA...

19 July 2016

Minister Bruton Must Address Human Rights Abuses In State Curriculum

In recent weeks, Atheist Ireland has researched hundreds of documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) about how it devised the State Religious Education course at second level. This Religious Education course is supposed to...

30 June 2016

HEA to enforce Atheist Ireland chaplain recommendations across third level sector

Atheist Ireland is pleased to announce a successful outcome to our two year campaign to make the appointment procedure for third level college chaplains publicly accountable and open to lay people. We brought Freedom of Information data to the Minister for Education, who responded by...

16 June 2016

How does the DoSP know which gods exist?

Atheist Ireland has consistently opposed the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act, 2014. This legislation was introduced by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton, in order to allow both religious and secular bodies to solemnise civil marriages. However, as reported in the Irish Times today, it discriminates...

17 May 2016

The Functioning of a Dysfunctional Law

Atheist Ireland has consistently opposed the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act, 2014. This legislation was introduced by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton, in order to allow both religious and secular bodies to solemnise civil marriages. By providing much more onerous criteria for secular bodies to...

3 May 2016

The Civil Registration Act is Dysfunctional

The Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2012, was introduced by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton. This Act allows both religious and secular bodies to solemnise civil marriages. Atheist Ireland has consistently opposed this legislation as it discriminates against non-religious citizens, while providing religious bodies with...

11 April 2016

HEA Confirms Large Public Endowments to Catholic Church

At the request of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), the Higher Education Authority (HEA) has arranged a presentation from Atheist Ireland in relation to the probity of contracts awarded to the Roman Catholic Church by third level colleges. New information has been provided to...