One of the issues that Atheist Ireland raised in our recent meeting with the Catholic Education Partnership was that schools are refusing to comply with the legal requirement to include in their admission policies arrangements for children who exercise their constitutional right to not attend...
Atheist Ireland had a constructive meeting this week with the Catholic Education Partnership, the body that coordinates Catholic education in Ireland. We met in Maynooth with chief executive officer Alan Hynes and chairperson Marie Griffin, and we have arranged a follow-up meeting to further discuss...
The Court of Appeal in the Burke case has confirmed that schools and teachers cannot impose the values/ethos of the school on students, if those values are against the conscience of their parents. Schools and Patron bodies believe that under Section 9 (d) of the...
Yesterday the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, introduced the New Primary School curriculum framework. You can find the framework here and frequently asked questions here. This new Framework could mean more time spent on religion in primary schools, not less. Officially, the new curriculum reduces...
Atheist Ireland has written the following letter to the Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD. Dear Minister, You have recently stressed that parents have a right to ensure that their children can withdraw from the updated sex education course on the basis of conscience. But...
Atheist Ireland has for years been raising the issue of objective sex education with the United Nations. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child included the following in its recent concluding observations about Ireland: Adolescent health (b) Integrate comprehensive, age-appropriate and evidence-based education...
The oireachtas, not the Government or the Department of Education or schools, is responsible for regulating the Constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in schools. That is why statutory guidelines are needed, passed by the Oireachtas, not just Government policies, or circular letters from...
Katie Levine of Atheist Ireland told RTE’s Liveline this week the name of the Irish schoolbook that promoted Catholic theologian and sex abuser Jean Vanier to children. TD Cathal Crowe had recalled the book the previous day but had not named it. It was Alive-O,...
The Minister for Education, Norma Foley, still has no plans to amend the Education Act 1998 to guarantee that relationship and sexuality education will be delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner and not through religious ethos of schools. Atheist Ireland has made submissions...
Since December 2021, Atheist Ireland has been lobbying to vindicate the constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in schools, and to uphold parental authority in the education of their children, which the Supreme Court has described as a foundational pillar of the Constitution. As...