The state Religious Education course developed by the NCCA disrespects atheists and humanists. The course was recently updated and introduced into second-level schools in September 2019. Despite superficial changes, the updated version is no better than the previous one. It is not an objective course...
A secular State protects both atheists and religious people. It has practical advantages for society, and there is a pathway to it. Secularism is a force for good in three ways. Firstly, secularism protects everybody’s freedom of conscience and religion and belief by staying neutral...
There are two reasons why State schools should be run on a secular basis. And a secular school is not the same thing as an atheist school. A religious school teaches that a god exists, an atheist school would teach that no gods exist, and...
There has been another case at the European Court in relation to freedom of religion and belief, this time about a note on a birth certificate that implied that a child had not been Christened, in the case Stavropoulos and Other v Greece. The European...
The removal of religious oaths for people making affidavits is a welcome half step in the direction of removing all religious oaths from State activities in Ireland. The Law Society has correctly noted that these oaths are contrary to the right to privacy. But witnesses...
Atheist Freethinkers/Libres Penseurs Athées of Montreal is trying to protect Bill 21, a new law that promotes separation of Church and State in Quebec. David Rand, President of Atheist Freethinkers, says: “As secularists, we have a duty to do everything in our power to ensure...
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child will soon be questioning Ireland again. Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland have sent this joint submission to the UN Committee. Contents Introduction Summary of Questions Cluster...
Atheist Ireland has had many successes since we were founded in 2008. We have normalised the use of the word atheism, and we have successfully lobbied to change the constitution and several laws. We continue to campaign to bring about a secular Constitution, parliament, laws,...
Atheist Ireland is a member of Humanists International, who today published the Humanists at Risk Action Report 2020. It exposes discrimination against atheists, humanists, and nonreligious people in eight countries: Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. These States limit the...
Grania Spingies, who died suddenly this month last year, would have been fifty today. She was a founding member and first secretary of Atheist Ireland, and a contributor to Jerry Coyne’s website Why Evolution is True. Grania was an intelligent and organised activist, a rational...