Secularism

27 December 2017

Irish State must respect the rights of atheists to freedom of belief and association

Despite the recent positive statement by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar about respecting freedom of religion and association, when talking about Scientology, the Irish State purports to legally decide what is and is not a religious group and who may be members of a religion. For example,...

21 December 2017

Why Atheist Ireland supports repeal, not replacement, of the eighth amendment

Atheist Ireland welcomes the Oireachtas Committee recommendation to have a referendum to repeal, not replace, the constitutional ban on abortion. It is important that the Government allows us to vote on this question as soon as is practicable. Our policy is that society should address...

18 December 2017

Atheist Ireland can endorse the integrity and consistency of the SIPO Commission

Amnesty International Ireland says that the SIPO Commission told Amnesty in 2016 that a €137,000 donation complied with the law, then SIPOC changed its mind about this in 2017. Amnesty says that it has no idea why SIPOC changed its mind. SIPOC says that it...

13 December 2017

Amnesty refuses to obey SIPO law and deflects by demonising whistleblowing

In the past week, Amnesty International Ireland has refused to comply with a directive from the SIPO Commission to return an unlawful foreign political donation of €137,000. Its Chief Executive has said that Amnesty would also defend Iona taking similar political donations to fund pro-life...

12 December 2017

We must strengthen the SIPO law to cover political activities by religions

Atheist Ireland yesterday published this Report on the issue of strengthening the SIPO law on donations to Third Parties for political purposes. We have now sent our Report to all TDs and Senators, and to the SIPO Commission. We have also written to the Minister...

11 December 2017

We must strengthen, not subvert, the SIPO law on funding of political activity

Amnesty International Ireland is refusing to obey the law on funding of political purposes. They are refusing to return an illegal donation from America to help to repeal the eighth amendment. Amnesty is mistaken in taking this position, both ethically and practically. Atheist Ireland is...

5 December 2017

Seven countries persecute atheists, Ireland discriminates systemically, says new IHEU report

The 2017 Freedom of Thought Report has listed seven countries where atheists, humanists and other nonreligious people are actively persecuted. They are India, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The Report also concludes that there is systemic religious discrimination in Ireland, including through...

21 November 2017

Submission to NCCA consultation on Junior Cycle Religious Education

This is a joint submission made to the NCCA consultation process on Junior Cycle Religious Education from: Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly, Atheist Ireland Imam Ibrahim Noonan, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland Pastor Nick Park, Executive Director, Evangelical Alliance of Ireland Contents 1. Introduction 1.1...

9 September 2017

New Report: Tipperary ETB/CTI is Failing in its Duty to Promote and Respect Human Rights

Atheist Ireland has prepared this comprehensive report on how Tipperary Education and Training Board (ETB), through its Central Technical Institute (CTI) in Clonmel, is failing in its statutory obligation to promote and protect the rights of minorities in their schools, based on the details of...

1 September 2017

Does Tipperary Education and Training Board have a Christian ethos?

In a recent case, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found in favour of Tipperary Education and Training Board (ETB), in a case taken by a computer science and maths teacher. The teacher had claimed that he was discriminated against on the ground of religion in...