With the attitude of the Catholic bishops over divesting schools, you could be forgiven for believing that the Irish Constitution explicitly sanctioned the funding of Catholic-run schools and without any conditions. The reasons that there are so many Catholic schools is because of religious privilege and the failure of the ...
The Irish Constitution was heavily influenced by the Catholic Church. There are Articles in the Irish Constitution that favour religion and protect the interests of religious institutions. There are Constitutional reasons why governments should not fund religious institutions to deliver public services. Publicly funded hospitals that are religious can deliver ...
Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the Joint Oireachtas Health Committee on Constitutional issues regarding the National Maternity Hospital and the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Code of Ethical Standards for Healthcare. Contents 1. Introduction to Atheist Ireland 2. Article 44.2.5 of the Constitution and Religious Denominations 3. St Vincent’s ...
Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland welcome that the Report of the Commission of the Defence Forces, published yesterday, has recommended that: A number of outdated practices should be discontinued, including but not limited to the convening of a Roman Catholic mass ...
A report by Genesis published this week by Catholic education groups shows clearly that the Catholic Church’s control over State-funded schools in Ireland must end. The results are devastating for State funding of Catholic schools, contrary to the misleading spin its publishers are pushing. The report says many parents feel ...
The Irish Times has published an article about this week’s Catholic Schools Week by Marie Griffin, chairperson of the Catholic Education Partnership. The article claims that Catholic Schools are places where everyone, of all faiths and none, is accepted and welcomed. If Catholic Schools wanted to make everyone, of all ...
Atheist Ireland joined a meeting this week of women’s rights groups and secular groups that want the State to own and manage the new National Maternity Hospital. The meeting was convened by Jo Tully, chairperson of the Campaign Against Church Ownership of Women's Healthcare. This growing campaign has two demands: ...
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 human rights abuses and an ...
The syllabus Religious Education Course was updated in 2019. The NCCA recently removed from its website the names of the Religious Education Reference Group members who shaped the course. In the interests of transparency, we have published their names below. This Religious Education Reference Group was heavily influenced by religious ...
Atheist Ireland welcomes the Pastoral Reflection by the Bishop of Clonfert, Michael Duignan, about changes in the Catholic Church, which Patsy McGarry reports on in today’s Irish Times. Bishop Duignan says that in the past, the Church tried to "engage with and convert secular society" but perhaps it was now ...