Campaigns

16 April 2015

How Religion Harms Education – Talk by Aron Ra next Tuesday, 21 April, at public meeting in Dublin

Aron Ra, Texas State Director of American Atheists, will be speaking in Dublin next Tuesday evening at a public meeting organised by Atheist Ireland, about how religion harms education. It will be Aron’s first talk for Atheist Ireland since our successful World Atheist Convention in...

12 February 2015

Atheist Ireland meets with CFI Canada to announce charter of International Coalition Against Blasphemy Laws

John Hamill from Atheist Ireland met yesterday in Toronto with Eric Adriaans from Centre For Inquiry Canada, to announce the charter of the new International Coalition Against Blasphemy Laws, and to discuss how both groups will work together as co-founders and partners in the campaign...

11 February 2015

Atheist Ireland gives Taoiseach open letter on blasphemy law signed by Richard Dawkins and others

At our meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday, Atheist Ireland gave him an open letter about the Irish blasphemy law signed by more than forty Irish and international scientists, philosophers, writers, comedians, politicians and activists. The Guardian has published the open letter. Here is the...

6 February 2015

Atheist Ireland meets Department of Justice about blasphemy law

Atheist Ireland met yesterday with officials from the Department of Justice to discuss the Irish blasphemy law. Our delegation included Chairperson Michael Nugent, Human Rights Officer Jane Donnelly, blasphemy campaign coordinator John Hamill, and independent blasphemy expert Professor David Nash of Oxford Brookes University. Following...

27 October 2014

Atheist Ireland’s achievements in 2014

Atheist Ireland had a very busy and successful 2014, with breakthroughs in international lobbying at the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the OSCE annual human rights meeting; ongoing national lobbying on secular education and healthcare as well as laws including blasphemy and the Civil...

19 October 2014

Atheist Ireland AGM and Public Meeting, Saturday 25 October, Wynns Hotel DUblin

The 2014 Atheist Ireland AGM will take place next Saturday, 25 October, in Wynnes Hotel in Abbey Street, Dublin. The morning session, from 11am to 12.30pm, is for members only. The afternoon session, from 2pm to 4pm, is open to the public. We will then...

3 October 2014

Protecting the human rights of atheists – Michael Nugent at the annual OSCE human rights meeting in Poland this week

This is video and text of Michael Nugent’s contributions to the annual OSCE human rights meeting in Warsaw, Poland, earlier this week. Contribution to Session on Discrimination The OSCE Guidelines for reviewing laws about freedom of religion or belief, stress the ‘or belief’ part of...

3 September 2014

Dr Ali Selim of the Islamic Cultural Centre calls for “revolution of inclusivity” in Irish schools and “an upheaval in Irish educational perspectives”

Atheist Ireland welcomes the above comments by Dr Ali Selim and invites the two publicly funded National schools under the patronage of the Islamic Foundation of Ireland to lead the way by including the children of atheists and secularists in their schools. The Islamic Foundation...

5 August 2014

Pictures of Atheist Ireland briefing the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva

Here are some pictures of Atheist Ireland and Alison Mawhinny, along with other Irish NGOs, briefing the UN Human Rights Committee at the formal and informal sessions in Geneva. Alison is an independent academic who worked with Atheist Ireland on Freedom of Religion issues. The...

1 August 2014

UN asks Ireland about religious oaths and blasphemy – video and transcript

The UN Human Rights Committee has told Ireland to remove religious oaths for public office and to remove the law against blasphemy, reflecting concerns raised by Atheist Ireland at the questioning session in Geneva. The Committee concluded: Religious Oaths: The Human Rights Committee is concerned...