Politics

28 November 2024

Political parties reply to Atheist Ireland election questions

Atheist Ireland asked each of the political parties ten questions on secular policies. Based on their responses and party manifestos, the four most secular parties (in order of agreement with most of our questions) are People Before Profit/Solidarity, Social Democrats, Green Party, and Labour Party....

11 November 2024

Atheist Ireland questions for general election candidates 2024

Atheist Ireland is asking the political parties and candidates, who are contesting the General Election on 29th November, to answer these ten questions about secular policies. We will publish the responses to assist you in deciding who to vote for. Please ask your own local...

26 August 2024

By law, schools must not shorten the school day for children who do not attend religious instruction

When parents seek to remove their child from religious instruction, many schools ignore their constitutional and legal duty to respect this right, and their legal duty to do this without shortening the school day of any student concerned. Some schools tell parents that they can’t...

28 July 2024

Religious teaching in publicly funded schools – a clash of educational ideologies

The Constitutional rights that were meant to protect Irish families from religious teaching in publicly funded schools are simply ignored, and have been undermined over the years. Not only do our children not have access to non denominational secular education but they don’t have access...

18 July 2024

Atheist Ireland submission to NCCA on Draft Primary Curriculum Specifications

Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the NCCA Consultation on the Draft Primary Curriculum Specifications. Introduction This submission focuses on two areas of the draft specifications: Social and Environmental Education (Geography and History) Wellbeing (Physical Education and Social, Personal and Health Education) Both...

17 July 2024

Atheist Ireland letter to Ministers re Incitement to Hatred Bill and recent European Court case

Atheist Ireland has written the following letter to the Minister for Justice, Taoiseach, Tanaiste, and Minister for Equality regarding the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill and the recent Sokolovskiy v. Russia case at the European Court of Human Rights....

1 May 2024

The rights to religious formation in schools and to not attend religious instruction

The state pays out approx 10 million a year for mainly catholic chaplains in ETB schools (there are some COI chaplains). Chaplains are paid by the state to help Catholic parents with the religious formation of their children. We know this because there was a...

29 March 2024

Words in the constitution matter, like not attend religious instruction

The recent referendums have shown that words in the constitution matter. The Supreme Court has found that children have a Constitutional right to not attend any course in religious instruction. The Supreme Court also said that this right is based on the conscience of parents....

17 September 2023

Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression – United Nations Human Rights 75 Pledge by Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland has made a pledge to the United Nations Human Rights 75 initiative to oppose laws against blasphemy and promote freedom of expression. 1. Background to Atheist Ireland Atheist Ireland is a voluntary advocacy group based in Ireland. We have Special Consultative Status at...

10 September 2023

Freedom of Religion or Belief – UN Human Rights 75 Pledge by Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland has made a pledge to the United Nations Human Rights 75 initiative to promote the consistent use of the full phrase ‘Freedom of Religion or Belief’ instead of the incomplete phrase ‘Freedom of Religion.’ 1. Background to Atheist Ireland Atheist Ireland is a...