Politics

21 November 2009

Guide to setting up an affiliated Atheist Student Society

Welcome to the Atheist Ireland Student Society Guide. At Atheist Ireland, we are committed to working together, as our constitution describes, to “build a rational, ethical and secular society free from superstition and supernaturalism”. The student movement is an absolutely integral part of this process;...

21 November 2009

Writing a Student Society Constitution

A constitution is what defines any Society: it lays out and unifies your aims and objectives and is the first reference for all procedural issues. It’s the first thing you’ll need to take care of when you decide to set one up. Luckily, college Society...

8 October 2009

How to lobby politicians

Atheist Ireland has recently held two training workshops for members in how to lobby politicians. They have been led by our Lobbying Officer, Conor McGrath, who is a former lobbyist in the UK and who has taught at the University of Ulster as Lecturer in...

30 September 2009

Campaign for a Secular Irish Constitution

Today is International Blasphemy Day, administered by the Center For Inquiry as part of its Campaign for Free Expression. Atheist Ireland is an advocacy group for an ethical and secular Ireland: see details in these Irish Times articles on the Irish blasphemy law and our...

9 June 2009

Massimo Pigliucci on blasphemy laws in the 21st century

Massimo Pigliucci writes, blasphemy is a strange concept, according to my dictionary it refers to “the act or offence of speaking sacrilegiously of God or sacred things.” By that definition, every religious believer constantly engages in blasphemy — of all the other gods she doesn’t...

11 May 2009

New campaign website at blasphemy.ie

Do you want to stop the Irish government from reviving the medieval crime of blasphemy? Do you want to promote a rational, ethical and secular society in Ireland? Atheist Ireland has put a campaign website online at http://blasphemy.ie/ as part of our campaign against this...

30 April 2009

Atheist Ireland Opposes New Blasphemy Crime

The Irish Government’s new proposed blasphemy crime combines the oppressive religious thinking of 1950s Catholic Ireland and modern Islamic fundamentalism. This proposal should be opposed for three reasons: One, it does not protect religious belief. Instead, it encourages outrage and it criminalises free speech. Two,...

11 March 2009

The Enemy of My Enemy: The Limits of Free-Speech

The Limits of Free-Speech: “Both these individuals have engaged in unacceptable behaviour by inciting hatred against a number of communities,” The above was the justification given by a UK Border Agency spokesman following the recent decision by the British government to prohibit Fred Phelps and...