Secularism

27 September 2011

Atheist Ireland attends OSCE human rights conference in Warsaw

Atheist Ireland chairperson Michael Nugent and Education Policy Officer Jane Donnelly are in Poland today for the OSCE Human Rights Conference on Human Rights. This is the first time an Irish atheist advocacy group has taken part in an OSCE event. We will highlight the...

25 September 2011

The price of Sky Pilots

Guest post by Atheist Ireland member GT. —————————————- In a recent letter to the Irish Independent a correspondent noted that the Irish state’s new law term on the 3rd of October will commence with a roman catholic mass attended by representatives of the legal profession,...

9 September 2011

Atheist Ireland meets Irish Government Forum on Primary Education Part 2

Here is a summary of the questions and answers part of the meeting last Tuesday between Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly of Atheist Ireland, and the Department of Education’s Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector. We were questioned by the Advisory Group...

7 September 2011

Atheist Ireland meets Irish Government Forum on Primary Education

Yesterday, Tuesday September 6, Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly attended the Department of Education’s Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector. We were there to elaborate on, and answer questions about, the written submission that Atheist Ireland previously made to the Forum. We...

8 June 2011

Dublin Declaration on Secularism and the Place of Religion in Public Life

On Sunday 5 June 2011, the World Atheist Convention in Dublin discussed and adopted the following declaration on secularism and the place of religion in public life. Please discuss and promote it with your friends and colleagues, and if you are a a member of...

1 June 2011

Dublin Declaration on Religion in Public Life – opinions welcome

This weekend, June 3-5, the World Atheist Convention will take place in Dublin. On Sunday we will discuss and adopt the Dublin Declaration on Religion in Public Life. This will be a follow-up to the Copenhagen Declaration that was adopted at last year’s convention in...

9 May 2011

Parents talk about the obstacles in obtaining a secular education for their child in Ireland

Alex Meehan of the Sunday Business Post interviewed some parents recently who have persevered in trying to get a secular education for their children. Although parents have the right to ask for their children to be exempted from religious classes at school in Ireland, those...

18 March 2011

Atheist Ireland response to European Court ruling on crucifixes in classrooms

The European Court of Human Rights today ruled that Italian State schools may display crucifixes on classroom walls, overturning an earlier judgment to the contrary. Today’s judgment lays down many important points of human rights law in favour of secularism, and it leaves open the...

11 March 2011

Atheist Ireland welcomes new forum on Catholic patronage of Irish schools

Atheist Ireland welcomes the decision by Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn to establish a forum to identify how schools can be transferred out of Catholic patronage as a matter of immediate priority. We hope to participate as fully as possible in this forum as an...

1 March 2011

Atheist Ireland submission to Programme for Government negotiating teams

Atheist Ireland has sent the following submission to the members of the Fine Gael and Labour Party negotiating teams for the Programme for Government. As you begin setting out an agreed Programme for Government for the incoming administration, Atheist Ireland wants to congratulate your parties...