Atheist Ireland welcomes the above comments by Dr Ali Selim and invites the two publicly funded National schools under the patronage of the Islamic Foundation of Ireland to lead the way by including the children of atheists and secularists in their schools. The Islamic Foundation...
Ireland funds School Chaplains and it costs the taxpayer 9 million a year. This funding is meant to help parents with the religious education of their children in the general school environment of some publicly funded second level schools. The 9 million is allocated to...
Irish law effectively prohibits non-denominational secular schools based on human rights, despite the Irish Government telling the UN Human Rights Committee last month that there are no obstacles to establishing such schools in Ireland. The Government did outline two requirements to the UN, that the...
Here are some pictures of Atheist Ireland and Alison Mawhinny, along with other Irish NGOs, briefing the UN Human Rights Committee at the formal and informal sessions in Geneva. Alison is an independent academic who worked with Atheist Ireland on Freedom of Religion issues. The...
Last month Ireland appeared before the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva under the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR). Every five years the UN questions Ireland in relation to their human rights obligations under the Covenant. In relation to the right to...
Educate Together has made two statements recently that undermine the duty of the Irish Government to provide secular education though new non-denominational schools, as required by the UN Human Rights Committee. Educate Together is doing this by blurring the distinction between multi-denominational schools (which Educate...
This is Yuval Shany of the UN Human Rights Committee, during the Committee’s questioning of Ireland in Geneva in July. He is challenging the Irish State’s reasons for not mandating the new Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission to monitor human rights under the...
This is a powerful extract from the closing address of Nigel Rodley, Chairperson of the UN Human Rights Committee, after the Committee’s questioning of Ireland in Geneva in July. Then there remain the many social issues that have been raised by colleagues. The Magdalene laundries,...
This is the hugely significant exchange in Geneva in July, where the Irish Government formally accepted that the will of the Irish people as expressed in a referendum or parliamentary vote cannot be used to deny human rights, including on abortion. The UN Human Rights...
The UN Human Rights Committee has told Ireland to stop breaching the human rights of atheists and minority faiths in the education system, reflecting concerns raised by Atheist Ireland at the questioning session in Geneva. The Committee concluded: The Human Rights Committee is concerned about...