Irish schools require children to respect Vatican codes of conduct that discriminate against gay people
03/12/2018 No Comments

Irish schools require children to respect Vatican codes of conduct that discriminate against gay people

The Irish Times reports that Pope Francis is concerned about what he describes as the “serious issue” of homosexuality and that being gay is a “fashion” to which the clergy is susceptible. He has said that “gay people should not be accepted into ministry”. It is nothing new that the Catholic ...

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Atheist Ireland launches ‘One Oath For All’ campaign
11/11/2018 1 Comment

Atheist Ireland launches ‘One Oath For All’ campaign

Atheist Ireland is today launching a ‘One Oath For All’ campaign, to enable conscientious atheists to hold the office of President, Judge, Taoiseach, or other members of the Council of State. Today Michael D Higgins will begin his second term as President, after fourteen elections or uncontested nominations since 1938, ...

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Why ETB schools should give an alternative subject to students who opt out from the NCCA religion course
04/11/2018 No Comments

Why ETB schools should give an alternative subject to students who opt out from the NCCA religion course

Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland will be meeting the Department of Education to follow up on issues raised at our last meeting. At that meeting, the Department confirmed to us that students can in fact opt out from the NCCA religion course ...

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The Austrian Muhammad paedophile case judgment is both dangerous and widely misunderstood
03/11/2018 1 Comment

The Austrian Muhammad paedophile case judgment is both dangerous and widely misunderstood

The case in which a woman was convicted in Austria for describing Muhammad as a paedophile, and in which the European Court of Human Rights did not overrule the judgment of the Austrian Courts, is both dangerous for human rights and widely misunderstood by many critics. It is ironic that ...

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From Belgium to Saudi Arabia, IHEU ranks the best and worst countries in which to be an atheist
29/10/2018 No Comments

From Belgium to Saudi Arabia, IHEU ranks the best and worst countries in which to be an atheist

The IHEU Freedom of Thought Report 2018 ranks the best and worst countries in the world to be an atheist, based on restrictions or discrimination in four areas: constitution and government; education and children’s rights; family, community and society; and freedom of expression. The IHEU is the International Humanist and ...

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Atheist Ireland welcomes removal of medieval crime of blasphemy
28/10/2018 1 Comment

Atheist Ireland welcomes removal of medieval crime of blasphemy

The people of Ireland have finally removed the medieval crime of blasphemy from our constitution, after a decade of campaigning by Atheist Ireland to have this referendum held. We will now continue to lobby for other secular changes, including ending the religious oath for President and the control that the ...

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Atheist Ireland welcomes positive exit poll figures on blasphemy referendum
26/10/2018 1 Comment

Atheist Ireland welcomes positive exit poll figures on blasphemy referendum

Exit polls suggest that today’s Yes vote might be between 69% (Irish Times exit poll) and 71% (RTE exit poll). We must remember that these are only exit polls, and not the official result of the vote, which we will not know until tomorrow or Sunday. Whatever the actual result, ...

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Ronan Mullen voted against the blasphemy law in 2009, despite now denying that he did so
19/10/2018 No Comments

Ronan Mullen voted against the blasphemy law in 2009, despite now denying that he did so

Senator Ronan Mullen voted against the Irish blasphemy law in 2009, despite denying that he did so on Prime Time yesterday. He opposed the blasphemy law because it did not explicitly allow religious people to blaspheme against matters held sacred by other religions. He added: ‘I say this as someone ...

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How the Islamic States at the United Nations use the Irish blasphemy law to justify their own laws
19/10/2018 No Comments

How the Islamic States at the United Nations use the Irish blasphemy law to justify their own laws

One of the arguments that Atheist Ireland has made, in support of removing the Irish blasphemy law, is that repressive regimes have used our law to politically justify their use of blasphemy laws, and to attempt to spread blasphemy laws around the world. Here is the most significant example of ...

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Department confirms to Atheist Ireland that students CAN opt out from NCCA religion course in ETB schools
10/10/2018 No Comments

Department confirms to Atheist Ireland that students CAN opt out from NCCA religion course in ETB schools

At a meeting today with Atheist Ireland, the Department of Education has confirmed that all students can still opt out of the NCCA State course in religious education in ETB schools, despite the recent Circular Letter suggesting the opposite. However, ETB schools will not be obliged to offer such students ...

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