General

30 January 2021

RTE’s ‘blasphemous’ comedy sketch – opinions of an atheist and a Catholic priest

This article is written by Peter Hinchliffe, who runs the Atheist Ireland Kerry Group. A few weeks ago a local paper asked if I could submit responses to questions raised by the issue of RTEs sketch showing the Abrahamic god being arrested for the rape...

22 January 2021

How the Irish Catholic Church has harmed our people, our schools, and our democracy

In the aftermath of the Mother and Baby Homes report, Seamus McKenna outlines how the Irish Catholic Church has harmed our people, our schools, and our democracy. On the 12th of January 2021 the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related...

22 January 2021

Religious oaths in the Irish Constitution

In Ireland atheists, humanists and the non-religious cannot take high office because of the requirement to take a religious oath in our Constitution. Atheist Ireland runs a ‘One Oath For All’ campaign, to enable conscientious atheists to hold the office of President, Judge, Taoiseach, or...

10 January 2021

Forcing respect for 160+ beliefs is impractical, and undermines freedom of expression

The right to freedom of conscience, religion and belief is one of the foundations of a democratic society. We have listed in this article over 150 religions that are recognised in Ireland, and ten nonreligious philosophical convictions that Human Rights law gives the same status...

7 January 2021

Is my Family Odd About God Special Offer

**Schools special offer** As Covid continues and schools start back online, Atheist Ireland are offering the book ‘Is my family odd about gods‘ free (excluding postage and packaging). This means that you can get this book for the total price of 10 euro. This offer...

4 January 2021

There is no right to not be offended, and it’s okay to challenge not respect beliefs

RTE, the National Broadcaster, has apologised for any offence that may have been caused by a Waterford Whispers News sketch on New Year’s Eve Countdown show. The Catholic Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin had complained that the item was offensive and blasphemous. Atheist Ireland has...

3 January 2021

Irish constitution gives parents more rights than human rights laws do

Irish parents have more rights in relation to the education of their children under the Irish Constitution than they have under human rights law. The United Nations and the Council of Europe constantly raise the issue of the failure of the Irish State to protect...

16 November 2020

New Atheist Ireland report – Schools are defying new law on admission policies

A new Atheist Ireland report shows that schools are defying a new law on admission policies. Carl O’Brien of the Irish Times has written about this report this morning. Section 62.7(n) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 requires schools to publish an admission...

14 November 2020

Religious ethos will sabotage any new sex education curriculum

The NCCA is updating the sex education curriculum, but this will not matter if schools can deliver the content according to their religious ethos. They can do this because of the Education Act 1998. Atheist Ireland has raised this issue with the Oireachtas Education Committee...

20 September 2020

The moral case for assisted dying

Martin O’Reilly of Atheist Ireland argues that assisted dying is a moral good. Linking to relevant sources, he examines religious objections, passive and active assisted dying, safeguards against pressure, the slippery slope argument, whether palliative care is enough, and the increased quality of life that...