Secularism

10 April 2013

An open letter to fellow members of the Humanist Association of Ireland by Andrew Devine-Rattigan

Dear fellow members of the Humanist Association of Ireland, I address you all in relation to the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill that came in to law after being passed by the Dail in December 2012. Many of you may feel that on the face of...

9 February 2013

Atheist Ireland to meet with Irish Government this year

Atheist Ireland will be meeting with the Irish Government this year for a bilateral meeting under the process of structured dialogue between the State and churches, faith communities and philosophical and other non-confessional bodies. We first requested this meeting last year, and we requested it...

21 January 2013

Atheist Ireland requests meeting with government as partner in dialogue process

Atheist Ireland has written to the Taoiseach requesting to meet him and ministers and officials, under the structured process of dialogue between the Government and churches, faith bodies and non-confessional bodies. Atheist Ireland is a partner in this dialogue process, having been accepted as such...

10 January 2013

Atheist Ireland will be speaking this morning at the parliamentary hearings on abortion law

Michael Nugent will be speaking this morning at the parliamentary hearings on abortion law, along with representatives of five Irish churches. The session runs from 9.30 am to 11.30 am. There will be five-minute opening statements, followed by an hour and a half of questions...

6 January 2013

Update: Atheist Ireland invited to parliamentary hearings this week on abortion law

Update: Atheist Ireland has been invited to take part in this hearing. We would like to thank the Oireachtas Health Committee for its prompt and courteous response to our request. Atheist Ireland has asked to be invited to parliamentary hearings this week on abortion law....

27 December 2012

Cardinal Brady promotes political lobbying on abortion, while secular groups who want to solemnise marriage are politically silenced

The privileged position of the Catholic Church in Irish law was highlighted by the political campaign launched by Cardinal Sean Brady on Christmas Day, seeking to influence the forthcoming law on abortion from an explicitly theological Roman Catholic perspective. To rub in the discrimination against...

27 December 2012

Humanist Association of Ireland must choose between solemnising marriages now, and politically promoting secularism

The Humanist Association of Ireland faces a fundamental dilemma in how it responds to the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill. That dilemma is this: does the Humanist Association stop promoting the political cause of separation of church and state in order to be able to legally...

21 December 2012

Atheist Ireland asks President to test constitutionality of new marriage registration law

Atheist Ireland today sent this letter to the President of Ireland: Dear President, Yesterday the Dail passed the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill. We are asking you as President to ask your Council of State for advice on whether to send this Bill to the Supreme...

20 December 2012

Dail passes new law that discriminates by religion in marriage registration, despite TDs citing concerns raised by Atheist Ireland

The Dail today passed the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill, despite several TDs highlighting concerns raised by Atheist Ireland in our briefing document ‘Legislating for Equality In Marriage Registration.’ Atheist Ireland is now writing to the President asking him to send the Bill to the Supreme...

19 December 2012

The letter from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties to Atheist Ireland about unconscious bias against atheists in an ICCL project

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has been responding to concerns about unconscious bias in its anti-discrimination law project, by repeatedly telling members of the public that the ICCL has sent a detailed 5-page letter to Atheist Ireland about the issue. Here is the ICCL...