Last April, the CSO published limited marriage figures by ceremony type for 2024. Atheist Ireland obtained the full breakdown from the CSO and published it last May. The CSO committed to including more detailed figures in future years, and we thanked them for that commitment....
In a recent Article in the Irish Times by Patsy McGarry, the Bishop of Meath, Tom Deenihan referred to “negative, ideologically driven and adversarial depiction of Catholic schools” as “grim places of indoctrination that children are forced to attend by Church and State”. But many...
Atheist Ireland appeared at 6:30 pm today before the Oireachtas Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen to discuss our Petition ‘To give practical application to the right not to attend religious instruction in school’. It is being live-streamed on the Oireachtas website. This is...
Atheist Ireland is continuing to engage with the ETBI regarding the human rights of families in ETB schools. The following is some of the content of our recent letter to the ETBI. We hope to continue to engage with the ETBI to ensure our human...
The Department of Education in Northern Ireland is reviewing the core Religious Education syllabus. It has also issued Guidelines on withdrawal from Religious Education. The Review follows the recent UK Supreme Court judgment in relation to JR87. That found that the current religious education syllabus...
Here are ten important points about the right to not attend religious instruction in Irish schools. This right is enshrined in Article 44.2.4 of the Irish Constitution. Its purpose was and is to protect religious minorities in the education system. Constitutional rights are not worth...
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...
Article 44.2.4 of the Constitution singles out religious instruction over the teaching of other school subjects, and makes it the responsibility of the Oireachtas, not the Executive. Article 44.2.4 makes vindicating the right to not attend religious instruction a condition of state aid to schools....
The Department of Education, and school patron bodies, are defying the Constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in publicly funded schools, as well as laws that protect that Constitutional right. In doing this, they use Circular Letters that have no statutory power and that...