Atheist Ireland is today publishing a new comprehensive report on religious discrimination across the ETB Sector, including Community National Schools. The Education and Training Board (ETB) Sector presents itself as the alternative to denominational schools in Ireland but in reality, these schools can be just...
Today on RTE, in a debate with Atheist Ireland’s Michael Nugent, the General Secretary of the Teachers Union of Ireland said his Union would refuse to even try to implement the new Directive allowing students to choose another subject instead of religion in ETB schools....
In an article in the Irish Independent it is stated that teachers are threatening to pull the plug on a new Directive from the Department of Education, which permits students to opt out of religion and pick another subject. It is very disappointing to see...
Atheist Ireland supports the Provision of Objective Sex Education Bill 2018 that Solidarity has introduced. If passed in the Oireachtas, it would mean that all students in Ireland could for the first time have access to objective Sex Education. This is a policy that Atheist...
Last Friday, 2nd March, at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Holy See opposed the fundamental human right to freedom from religion, claiming that it is a patronising idea that goes beyond the mandate of UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion...
Atheist Ireland welcomes the Department of Education’s new directive on religious instruction in second-level ETB schools. It is the most significant recognition of the constitutional and human rights of atheist, minority faith, and secular families in Irish schools since Atheist Ireland was founded. These rights...
Finally, in ETB schools, a proper opt-out from religion seems about to happen, with alternative subjects being offered at the start of the year, based on proposals that Atheist Ireland has been intensively lobbying for in recent years. The Irish Times has seen records of...
The Minister for Education has told Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger that he will review the practice of ETB schools paying the Roman Catholic Church to train students in faith leadership. Last month Atheist Ireland revealed details of these controversial courses, that train some students to...
Based on new documents obtained under Freedom of Information Act, and on our meeting with the Department of Education last month, Atheist Ireland is optimistic that the Minister for Education will soon issue a Circular Letter about the timetabling of religion in ETB schools, that...
In a series of emails that the Department of Education tried to hide from Atheist Ireland, the head of Education and Training Boards Ireland recently revealed that he didn’t know whether an important Department policy about religion was in force in ETB schools. He also...