The European Court of Human Rights today ruled that Italian State schools may display crucifixes on classroom walls, overturning an earlier judgment to the contrary. Today’s judgment lays down many important points of human rights law in favour of secularism, and it leaves open the...
Atheist Ireland welcomes the decision by Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn to establish a forum to identify how schools can be transferred out of Catholic patronage as a matter of immediate priority. We hope to participate as fully as possible in this forum as an...
Atheist Ireland has sent the following submission to the members of the Fine Gael and Labour Party negotiating teams for the Programme for Government. As you begin setting out an agreed Programme for Government for the incoming administration, Atheist Ireland wants to congratulate your parties...
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination (CERD) will be monitoring Ireland’s record on this issue at meetings from 14 February to 11 March. The CERD sees a link between racial and religious discrimination. In its last report on Ireland, in...
Atheist Ireland has launched a new website as part of our campaign for a secular Irish education system based on human rights law. http://teachdontpreach.ie includes information, resources and a discussion forum about secular education, and sample letters to help you to opt your child out...
Inoculate Ugandan Children From Magic and Superstition Two years ago, the Kasese United Humanist Association (KUHA), inaugurated the courageous goal of raising a generation of children in Uganda grounded in freethought, reason, and science. They wanted to break the generational cycle of families passing on...
Atheist Ireland wants a change to the Education (Amendment) Bill 2010, which is being debated this week in the Dail, to ensure the right of parents to a secular education based on human rights law in new VEC primary schools. The Bill will allow VECs...
Derek Walsh reviews the launch of the anti-evolution book that Ireland’s Minister for Science had planned to formally launch. I arrived a little late at the book launch of The Origin of Specious Nonsense to find the author John J. May, already in full swing,...
Atheist Ireland agrees with Educate Together and with the Humanist Association of Ireland that children should not be separated according to their religion in the new pilot VEC primary schools, and that there should not be faith formation within school hours. Atheist Ireland believes that...
At our AGM last Saturday, Atheist Ireland adopted the following amended version of the Copenhagen Declaration on Religion in Public Life. The original version was written and adopted by delegates at the world atheist conference “Gods and Politics” held in Copenhagen from 18-20 June 2010....