News

4 July 2021

Secular Sunday #497 – The right to freedom of conscience

This week’s Secular Sunday. To avoid missing out, sign up here to receive Secular Sunday by email   Editorial The right to freedom of conscience   Article 44.1 of the Irish Constitution protects the right to freedom of conscience. The Irish State has failed to...

2 July 2021

Protecting the freedom of conscience of secularists in the National Maternity Hospital

Our politicians are now wrestling with the issues around the National Maternity Hospital and the Sisters of Charity. Those issues are not just about access to reproductive healthcare, but also about the right to freedom of conscience. Those who seek a National Maternity Hospital free...

27 June 2021

Secular Sunday #496 – Hospitals, Schools, and Assisted Dying

This week’s Secular Sunday. To avoid missing out, sign up here to receive Secular Sunday by email   Editorial Hospitals, Schools, and Assisted Dying   It is scandalous that the Government is even contemplating ceding control over the new national maternity hospital to a private...

22 June 2021

The State should own and directly run the national maternity hospital

In a democratic republic, the State should own and directly run the national maternity hospital. It should not cede control over this essential public service to any private body, never mind to a charity associated with the Catholic church, which has an appalling record of...

20 June 2021

Secular Sunday #495 – Religion teachers undermine students’ rights

This week’s Secular Sunday. To avoid missing out, sign up here to receive Secular Sunday by email   Editorial Religion teachers undermine students’ rights   This week religion teachers complained about Catholic students being bullied because they are different. They are correct to raise this...

13 June 2021

Secular Sunday #494 – The right to freedom of thought

This week’s Secular Sunday. To avoid missing out, sign up here to receive Secular Sunday by email *|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*   Editorial The right to freedom of thought   This week Atheist Ireland made a submission about freedom of thought to Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special...

12 June 2021

How the State uses misleading language to hide the purpose of religious ethos in schools

The Minister for Education, Norma Foley and the Department of Education are trying to control the language around Relationship and Sexuality Education in order to hide the influence that a catholic ethos has on the teaching of the subject. The Minister and the Department use...

12 June 2021

Atheist Freethinkers of Montreal defend Bill 21, Quebec’s recent secularism law

Atheist Freethinkers/Libres Penseurs Athées of Montreal today made an online presentation in support of Bill 21, a recent law that promotes separation of Church and State in Quebec, which is facing ongoing legal challenges. The law was passed in June 2019, entitled ‘An Act respecting...

10 June 2021

Understanding the Right to Freedom of Thought – Atheist Ireland input to United Nations Report

Atheist Ireland has made the following submission about Freedom of Thought to Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Mr Shaheed had called for inputs to a report he is compiling for the UN General Assembly on the topic....

6 June 2021

Secular Sunday #493 – Ten Years since the World Atheist Convention in Dublin

This week’s Secular Sunday. To avoid missing out, sign up here to receive Secular Sunday by email *|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*   Editorial Ten Years since the World Atheist Convention in Dublin   This week we held an online social event for members to mark the tenth anniversary...