The recent marriage figures that Atheist Ireland obtained from the CSO show that there is a major cultural shift in Irish marriages. One group with a significant increase is those who have spiritualist ceremonies. Spiritualist marriages are defined legally as religious marriages. They are counted...
Last week Atheist Ireland met with Deputy Barry Ward regarding his Private Members Bill about the religious oath for judges in the Irish Constitution (The Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Judicial Oath of Office) Bill 2025). We welcome this bill as a further indication of...
We are constantly being told that there is not enough state aid to ensure that our children can attend any school in receipt of this aid and not attend religious instruction (Article 44.2.4 – Irish Constitution) This can only mean that the legislation providing state...
Five years to the day after the public voted to remove Blasphemy as a crime, from the Constitution in the 2018 referendum, detailed figures have emerged today from the CSO showing Ireland is becoming more and more pluralist with each census. Top level figures published...
Atheist Ireland has made a pledge to the United Nations Human Rights 75 initiative to oppose laws against blasphemy and promote freedom of expression. 1. Background to Atheist Ireland Atheist Ireland is a voluntary advocacy group based in Ireland. We have Special Consultative Status at...
Over a million (or one in every five) Irish people either said they have no religion (14%) or declined to state a religion (7%) in last year’s census. In reality, the evidence of day to day life, including Church attendances, indicates that far more than...
Atheist Ireland met this week with Lt Col Padraig Brennan, chair of the Irish Defence Forces Review of the Chaplaincy service. Here are our thoughts and recommendations that we expressed at the meeting. The Defence Forces website states that “The Defence Forces are committed to...
Atheist Ireland had a constructive meeting this week with the Catholic Education Partnership, the body that coordinates Catholic education in Ireland. We met in Maynooth with chief executive officer Alan Hynes and chairperson Marie Griffin, and we have arranged a follow-up meeting to further discuss...
Atheist Ireland has written again to the Oireachtas Education Committee regarding an anti-abortion video shown to students during curriculum Religious Education in an Irish school. Here is the letter we have written. We refer to our letter to the Committee on 21st August 2021 regarding,...
The Central Statistics Office is asking for submissions on improving the census questions for 2027. Atheist Ireland has made the following submission. If you agree with our arguments, please make a submission yourself supporting them. We recommend the following changes to the religion question: the...