|
|
|
Editorial
UN Committee to question Ireland on education
Atheist Ireland made a submission this week to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which is preparing its list of issues for its next questioning of Ireland. We have raised issues under the rights to work, health, and education.
Under the right to work, we have raised Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, which allows publicly funded schools to discriminate against teachers on the ground of religion. Under the right to health, we have raised the right to objective Relationship and Sexuality Education at primary level, and Social, Personal and Health Education at second level.
Under the right to education, we have raised the right to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction at that school, the requirement to include in admission policies how children who do not attend religious teaching will be accommodated, and the need for publicly funded nondenominational schools.
The last time this UN Committee questioned Ireland, it recommended an increase in the number of nondenominational schools. The Government has now told the UN Committee it aims to have ‘400 multi-denominational or non-denominational schools’ by 2030. But the programme for government refers only to ‘400 multi-denominational schools.’
As always, if you would like to help us to continue this work, please join Atheist Ireland as a member. We are a voluntary body with no paid staff, and we depend on our members to continue our work. You can join here.
– Secular Sunday Editorial Team
|
|
|
Éire Aindiach
Éire Aindiach
Chun ár gcuid feachtais a leathnú agus a neartú, tá sé beartaithe ag Éire Aindiach níos mó úsáid a bhaint as an Ghaeilge.
Ba mhaith linn meitheal a eagrú, chun cuidiú le:
- Polasaithe agus feachtais Éire Aindiach a phlé ar an raidió nó ar an teilifís
- Cuidiú le doiciméid ghaeilge a scríobh
- Bualadh le polaiteoirí chun stocaireacht a dhéanamh
Táimid i mbun aistriúcháin a dhéanamh ar dhoiciméid polasaí faoi láthair, agus teastaíonn cabhair uainn le aistriúchán agus profáil. Más maith leat bheith páirteach san iarracht seo, cur ríomhphost chugainn ag gaeilge@atheist.ie.
English translation:
To broaden and strengthen our campaigns, Atheist Ireland have undertaken to make more use of the Irish language.
We are looking to assemble a group of volunteers, to help with:
- Discussing our policies and campaigns on radio or tv
- Helping to write documents in Irish
- Meeting with politicians to lobby them
We are in the process of translating policy documents at the moment, and we need some help with translating and proofreading. If you would like to assist with this effort, please email us at gaeilge@atheist.ie.
|
|
|
Atheist Ireland News
Atheist Ireland asks UN Committee to question Ireland about education
Atheist Ireland has made this submission to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which is preparing its list of issues for its next questioning of Ireland.
Contents and Questions
Introduction to Atheist Ireland
Article 2 — Progressive Realisation of Rights
Article 6 — Right to Work
Q1 Will the State party amend Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act to remove the right of publicly funded schools to discriminate against teachers on the ground of religion?
Article 12 —Right to Health
Q2 Will the State party amend Section 15-2(b) of the Education Act 1998 to ensure that all students have access to objective Relationship and Sexuality Education at primary level and Social, Personal and Health Education at second level?
Article 13 — Right to Education
Q3 Will the State party vindicate in practice the right under Article 44.2.4 of the Irish Constitution of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction at that school, and put in place statutory guidelines to ensure that this happens?
Q4 Will the State party ensure that schools include in their Admission Policies details of how they will accommodate children who do not attend religious teaching, as required by Section 62.7(n) of the Admission to Schools Act, and ensure that schools cannot evade this requirement by merely saying that parents can meet the school to discuss it?
Q5 Will the State party commit to providing specifically nondenominational schools, as per the Committee’s last concluding observations? (Contrary to the State party’s ambiguous use of the phrase ‘multi-denominational or non-denominational schools’, there are no publicly funded nondenominational schools registered with the Department of Education and no plans to provide any.)
Q6 Will the State party clearly define the terms, denominational, multi-denominational, interdenominational, nondenominational or other, and commit to legally defining those terms, as per the Recommendation of the Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission in their Report ‘Religion & Education; A human Rights Perspective’?
Introduction to Atheist Ireland
Atheist Ireland is an Irish advocacy group. We promote atheism and reason over superstition and supernaturalism, and we promote an ethical, secular society where the State does not discriminate against or support or finance or give special treatment to any religion or belief.
Atheists are a minority in Ireland. These are the last census figures in 2016 under the category for Religion (figures in thousands): Roman Catholic 3,729.1 – Church of Ireland 126.4 – Muslim (Islamic) 63.4 – Orthodox 62.2 – Christian 37.4 – Presbyterian 24.2 – Hindu 14.3 – Apostolic or Pentecostal 13.4 – Other 97.7 – No religion 468.4 – Not stated 125.3.
Since being formed in late 2008, Atheist Ireland has campaigned for a secular, human-rights-based Irish Constitution, parliament, laws, and government, with particular emphasis on our education system which discriminates systemically on the ground of religion. We are part of the dialogue process between the Government and religious and nonreligious philosophical bodies.
We led a successful decade-long campaign to remove the crime of blasphemy from the Irish Constitution. The 37th Amendment to the Constitution Bill was brought to Dáil Éireann and the Irish public passed the amendment in a referendum in 2018. The Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Act was passed in 2019.
We base our policies on human rights standards. We have addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council and we take part in sessions of various UN Committees. We have successfully had human-rights-based recommendations made based on our submissions to these committees. We have also made submissions to the OSCE and the Council of Europe.
Article 2 — Progressive Realisation of Rights
Article 6 — Right to Work
Question 1:
Will the State party amend Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act to remove the right of publicly funded schools to discriminate against teachers on the ground of religion?
Context:
Atheist, Humanist and secular student teachers as well as those from religious minorities have difficulty accessing the teaching profession because of religious discrimination.
Under Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, teachers are obliged to uphold the ethos of
their employer. As the vast majority of schools in Ireland have a religious ethos it is difficult for minorities to access the teaching profession. Ireland’s main second level teachers’ union, the ASTI, is against any discrimination of teachers under Section 37 of the EEA.
Schools in Ireland are publicly funded but managed and controlled by Patron Bodies (Section 8 of the Education Act 1998). The vast majority of schools in Ireland have a religious ethos.
Section 37(1) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 gives a religious, educational or medical institution that is under the direction or control of a body established for religious purposes or whose objectives include the provision of services in an environment which promotes certain religious values permission to discriminate on religious grounds.
In order to train as a teacher and gain employment trainee teachers must take a Certificate in
Catholic Religious studies (CRS).
From Dublin City University – Teacher Training
“Teachers applying for positions in Catholic primary schools in Ireland are required to hold a qualification equipping them to teach religion according to the tenets of the Catholic faith. The Certificate in Religious Studies (CRS) offered by DCU meets the requirements of the Irish Episcopal Conference in this regard and graduates have been successful in obtaining positions in Catholic primary schools.”
It is also the policy of the State to promote morals/values through religion. Promoting morals/values through religion and bringing all children to a knowledge of god undermines the rights of students and obliging prospective teachers to comply with this undermines their right to freedom of conscience.
The Introduction to the Primary Schools Curriculum states:
“To enable children to develop spiritual, moral and religious values” (page 34)
“In seeking to develop the full potential of the individual, the curriculum takes into account the child’s affective, aesthetic, spiritual, moral and religious needs. The spiritual dimension is a fundamental aspect of individual experience, and its religious and cultural expression is an inextricable part of Irish culture and history. Religious education specifically enables the child to develop spiritual and moral values and to come to a knowledge of God.” (page 58)
The Primary School curriculum is being updated at present. We have made a submission on our right to relation to the moral education of our children. You can find that here.
At second level one of the main aims of Syllabus Religious Education is to develop values in students through religious education. There is no separation of Church and State in the Irish Education system. The Department of Education does not see any issue with developing values in students from atheist families to enable them to see the relevance of religion to their lives.
The Department of Education claims that this is suitable teaching for students from atheist, humanist and secular backgrounds and is inclusive of students from all backgrounds. The contents of Syllabus Religious Education are not neutral and objective and in addition Religion teachers are legally obliged to deliver the course through the ethos of the Patron.
This means that prospective student teachers from atheist, humanists and secular backgrounds cannot on the grounds of conscience teach syllabus Religious Education and must choose another subject to teach.
Prospective students from minority backgrounds cannot legally challenge the ethos of the Patron and must comply with the policies of the Board of Management of the school (Section 15-2(b) Education Act 1998). Read more…
The Frontline Workers Public Holiday should not be linked with religion
Atheist Ireland has sent the following letter to the Taoiseach and members of the Cabinet.
The purpose of the new public holiday is to mark the efforts of frontline workers during the Covid pandemic. The most obvious way to do that is to call it the Frontline Workers Public Holiday, or the February (or November) Bank Holiday dedicated to the frontline workers during Covid.
Alongside this, some people are proposing that the public holiday should be dedicated to Saint Brigid. There is absolutely no need, and indeed it is a distraction, to add religion into this scenario. When the healthcare workers were protecting us from Covid, nobody was applauding Saint Brigid.
Saint Brigid has a very different symbolism, which is religious evangelisation. She supposedly wove a Christian cross out of rushes to convert a pagan chieftain into Christianity as he was dying. That is exactly the wrong message to convey about the multi-cultural Ireland of today.
Some people are suggesting that Saint Brigid would balance the public holiday named after the male Saint Patrick. That is a separate issue from the Frontline Workers Public Holiday. If you want to have a public holiday dedicated to Irish women, then you should do that separately and not entangle it with religion.
Even treating it as a separate issue, adding a new saint would not balance an existing saint. It would just reinforce the divisive and anachronistic idea that we all identify with mythological saints that are already over-represented on our calendar.
On that separate issue, a better balance to a male saint would be a women scientist. Here are two examples:
- Physician Dorothy Stopford Price (1890-1954) from Dublin was central to the elimination of childhood Tuberculosis in Ireland.
- Chemist Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971) from Kildare was the first woman president of the International Union of Crystallography.
Kathleen Lonsdale was born on 28 January, and Dorothy Stopford Price died on 30 January, so a public holiday dedicated to either or both of them could fall midway between New Year’s Day and Saint Patrick’s Day.
Dorothy Stopford Price
Physician Dorothy Stopford Price (1890-1954) from Dublin was central to the elimination of childhood Tuberculosis in Ireland. She studied social science while working with the Charitable Organisation Society before studying medicine at Trinity College Dublin. She tended to injured combatants in the War of Independence and the Civil War, and joined Cumann na mBan where she gave lectures on first aid.
She then worked as a house surgeon at St Ultan’s hospital in Dublin where she came into contact with mostly poor families suffering from Tuberculosis. She worked on TB testing and was a pioneer of the BCG vaccine that was central to eliminating TB from Ireland. She tried to set up an Irish Anti-Tuberculosis League in defiance of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid.
She was made head of the National Vaccination Programme in 1949, but had a stroke a year later and died in 1954. Her professional archives are in the library of Trinity College Dublin.
Kathleen Lonsdale
Chemist Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971) from Kildare was an Irish emigrant, scientist, pacifist, prisoner of conscience, prison reformer, author, and symbol of the closeness of the peoples of Ireland and Britain. She was born in Kildare, and her mother soon moved with to London with her children to escape a failed marriage.
As a scientist, Kathleen proved that the benzene ring is flat by using X-ray diffraction. She was the first woman tenured professor at University College London, and the first woman president of the International Union of Crystallography and the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
During the Second World War, she sheltered refugees, and spent a month in jail for refusing to register for civil defence duties. This led her to campaign for humane prison reform. She was also a pacifist anti-nuclear campaigner and author.
A plaque was erected on her family home in Newbridge in 2003, a hundred years after her birth. There are university buildings named after her in London, Limerick, and Dublin. NUI Maynooth awards a student prize named after her. Lonsdaleite, a rare form of diamond found in meteorites, was named in her honour.
Conclusion
The purpose of the new public holiday is to mark the efforts of frontline workers during the Covid pandemic. The most obvious way to do that is to call it the Frontline Workers Public Holiday, or the February (or November) Bank Holiday dedicated to the frontline workers during Covid.
If you want to have a public holiday dedicated to Irish women, then you should do that separately and not entangle it with religion. Even treating it as a separate issue, adding a new saint would not balance an existing saint. A better balance to a male saint would be a women scientist, such as Dorothy Stopford Price or Kathleen Lonsdale.
You could look at this separate idea after you establish the Frontline Workers Public Holiday. Read online…
Know your rights
Putting students in a position that they must reveal their religious or non religious convictions breaches the right to freedom of conscience and religion. Religion teachers in schools consistently ask students to reveal their beliefs. Many students that are forced to take religion classes are put in a position that they have to reveal their convictions.
Asking parents for reasons when they try to exercise their right to ensure the child does not attend religious instruction breaches the right to freedom of conscience and religion.
It is not up to the Dept of Education, schools or teachers to decide for parents what is or is not against their conscience. They have no right to question parents or students or put them in a position where they feel obliged to reveal their convictions.

Calling concerned teachers
If you are a teacher and concerned about unwanted religious influence contact Chris at teachers@atheist.ie
List of Atheist Ireland Submissions
Buy this book “Is My Family Odd About Gods?”
**Schools Special Offer**
Atheist Ireland are offering the book ‘Is my family odd about gods‘ free (excluding postage and packaging). This means that you can get this book for the total price of 10 euro. This offer is aimed at families with school going children, who would like to read this book. This offer is limited to one book per family unit and for postage within Ireland only. Read more…
Have you noticed that your school and your teachers may tell you one thing about religion, while some of your friends and family may have different ideas about god?
If you think that this is a little odd, then this book is for you. Buy this book here.
Lessons about Atheism
Atheist Ireland has published a set of free lesson plans about atheism for children aged 8 and up. We welcome feedback, which we will use to develop the lessons. You can download the lesson plans here

Be Good without Gods
Atheist Ireland ‘Good Without Gods’ Kiva team members have made loans of $35,275 to 1224 entrepreneurs in the developing world. You can join the team here. Before you chose a loan, make sure you do not support religious groups. You can check the loan partner’s social and secular rating here.
Notme.ie
Atheist Ireland’s ‘notme.ie‘ is a place where people can publicly renounce the religion of their childhood. Currently there are 1892 symbolic defections. Many share their reasons for making a public symbolic defection which you can read here.
Petition on Schools Equality PACT
Atheist Ireland currently runs one petition – The Schools Equality PACT. This seeks to reform religious discrimination in state-funded schools. Currently this stands at 4,102 Help us reach it’s target of 5000. Please sign and share this petition if you haven’t already done so. Thank you.
Tell us what you think
Have you any feedback that you would like to give us on the Secular Sunday newsletter. What are we getting right? What could we improve on? Is there something you would like to see included? Drop us an email at secularsunday@atheist.ie.
Please consider joining or re-joining Atheist Ireland
Atheist Ireland is an entirely volunteer run organisation. We receive no grants or government funding to continue our campaign work. We rely entirely on membership fess and donations.
Annual membership is nominal; €25 waged, €10 unwaged/student and €40 for family membership. Please consider becoming a member. Membership means:
- You can help to build an ethical and secular Ireland.
- You have a say in determining policy and electing officers.
- You can attend members meetings and our AGM.
- You will have access to our members only Facebook group
- Your membership fee will go towards supporting our many campaigns.
You can join Atheist Ireland here.
Thank you for your continued support
Atheist Ireland Committee
|
|
|
Opinion and Media
Material on atheism, secularism, human rights,politics,science etc. collected from media and the blogosphere from Ireland and beyond; used without permission, compensation, liability, guarantee or implied endorsement. We aim to include a variety of diverse opinions and viewpoints.
Blogs & Opinions
National
Northern Ireland: How doubling of number identifying as non-religious could be electorally significant
By David Blevins
Northern Ireland is synonymous with religion – but there has been a significant increase in the number of people identifying as “non-religious”. According to the 2021 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 27% of the population now claim to have no religion. The figure has doubled in a decade and could be electorally significant in a place where religion has influenced politics. Read more…
International
Remove religious gatekeepers from school admissions
By Alastair Lichten
Faith-based selection forces families’ religiosity to be assessed, compels conformity, and undermines everyone’s freedom of belief, says Alastair Lichten. Religious discrimination in school admissions is opposed by people right across the religious and political spectrum. It is often the number one objection to faith schools and regarded by many as their most egregious aspect. Read more…
Catholic Church found liable for sexual abuse of child in landmark case
By Shane O’Brien
An Australian court has found the Catholic Church liable for a priest’s abuse of a five-year-old in the early 1970s in a landmark ruling that could impact future abuse cases. Last month, the Supreme Court of Victoria in southeast Australia found that the current diocese of Ballarat was vicariously liable for the abuse of the boy, who cannot be named, by Fr. Bryan Coffey in the coastal town of Port Fairy during the early 1970s. Read more…
Pope claims having pets not kids robs us of humanity
By AFP
CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER Pope Francis risked the ire of the world’s childless dog and cat owners today, suggesting people who substitute pets for kids exhibit “a certain selfishness”. Speaking on parenthood during a general audience at the Vatican, Francis lamented that pets “sometimes take the place of children” in society. Read more…
What happened to the nonbelief channel at Patheos?
By Yonat Shimron
(RNS) — Visitors to Patheos, the multifaith media platform that hosts commentary from writers in many of the world’s religions, may have noticed some changes lately. Its nonreligious channel has become an empty hulk, bereft of most of the familiar names that once occupied the space, including its most popular blogger, Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist. Read more…
Saudi Arabia Sentences Man To 15 Years For Promoting Atheism In Tweets
By Sasha Gopalakrishnan
Dubai: Human Rights Watch said Monday a Saudi court had sentenced a Yemeni man to 15 years for apostasy, urging the kingdom to prioritise decriminalising blasphemy amid a modernisation drive. The rights group said that Ali Abu Luhum, 38, had been accused of making comments “via two anonymous Twitter accounts”, which prosecutors argued were registered with phone numbers linked to him. Read more…
Millennials lead shift away from organized religion as pandemic tests Americans’ faith
By Seema Mody
It’s not uncommon for people to seek God during times of hardship. However, the opposite appears to have happened in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.
A Pew Research Center survey, released earlier this month, found 29% of U.S. adults said they had no religious affiliation, an increase of 6 percentage points from 2016, with millennials leading that shift. Read more…
Devastating decline in religious practice among young Poles, says Catholic primate
By Daniel Tilles
There has been a “devastating” decline in religious practice among young people in Poland, says one of the country’s most senior church figures, Wojciech Polak, the archbishop of Gniezno and Primate of Poland. Read more…
If you are a blogger or vlogger writing or talking about atheism, secularism, ethics, skepticism, human rights etc. and would like us to include your work here please email the link to secularsunday@atheist.ie
|
|
|
|
|
|
|