Education

29 January 2017

Minister Bruton is wrong – Community National Schools are not based on international best practice

In a speech last week at the IPPN Conference, the Minister for Education said Community National Schools reflect international best practice in the area of faith and belief nurturing. He is wrong. He says that international best practice encourages schools to celebrate religious festivals and...

7 January 2017

Protecting the rights of atheist, secular and minority faith teachers in Irish schools

One of Atheist Ireland’s priorities this year will be campaigning for the right of atheists and religious minorities to access the teaching profession. As well as being able to legally discriminate against pupils and their parents, State funded Irish schools can also legally discriminate against...

20 December 2016

Bishop’s statement confirms that religious opt-out system does not work in practice

Catholic Bishop Denis Nulty has said that only 1% of students opt out of religion in Irish primary schools. We don’t know the reliability of the survey he is basing this figure on. But, if it is accurate, it simply proves that the opt out...

15 December 2016

Atheist, Evangelical & Muslim alliance addresses Oireachtas Education Committee

At 2:30 pm today the secular schools alliance of Atheist Ireland, Evangelical Alliance Ireland and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland will address the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education about the Admission to Schools Bill. Pictured above with Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for...

2 October 2016

Atheist Ireland has busy week at UN in Geneva, OSCE in Warsaw, and in Ireland

Atheist Ireland has had one of our busiest and most productive weeks since we were founded. We spoke and lobbied at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, and at the annual OSCE human rights meeting in Warsaw, Poland. We met with the...

30 September 2016

Atheist Ireland rejects Holy See claims about Irish schools at OSCE

The Irish State has ceded control of most of our publicly funded schools to a Church that swaps at will between being a religion and being a foreign state. This foreign State claims internationally they are not responsible for the running of Catholic schools in...

27 September 2016

Holy See responds to Atheist Ireland at OSCE in Warsaw about religious-run schools

The Holy See today responded to Atheist Ireland’s contribution at the OSCE on religious discrimination in Irish schools. We will have a full analysis later, including how the Holy See’s response contrasts with its submission to the UN Committee on the rights of the Child,...

15 September 2016

New Government Education Action Plan fails to address religious discrimination

The Government today launched its Action Plan for Education, which it says is aimed at becoming the best education service in Europe. It is already the best education service in Europe for breaching the human rights of atheists, secularists, and members of minority faiths who...

2 September 2016

Atheist Ireland Statement to the UN Human Rights Council

Atheist Ireland has given a written statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council as part of the final session of the Universal Periodic Review of Ireland. The Thirty Third session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) will take place from 13th – 30th of...

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...