Atheist Ireland | Education Archives

20/04/2018 No Comments Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland asks Oireachtas Education Committee to support objective sex education

Atheist Ireland has made a comprehensive submission to the Oireachtas Education Committee, asking it to support objective sex education in Irish schools, based on the framework of Solidarity's Objective Sex Education Bill. You can read Atheist Ireland's submission here. Our four recommendations to the Oireachtas Education Committee are: 1. Objective ...

19/04/2018 No Comments Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland delighted at passing of Solidarity’s Objective Sex Education Bill

Atheist Ireland is delighted that Solidarity’s Objective Sex Education Bill has passed its first vote today in the Dail. It will now go on to be debated at Committee stage. Along with our allies in other groups who support this Bill, we will now lobby members of the Oireachtas Education ...

14/04/2018 No Comments Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland sends briefing document to TDs on Objective Sex Education Bill

Atheist Ireland has written to all TDs and Senators seeking support for Solidarity’s Objective Sex Education Bill, which will be proposed in the Dail on Wednesday, 18 April 2018. If passed, this Bill will guarantee that all children in Irish schools have access to objective relationship and sexuality education, without ...

10/04/2018 No Comments Atheist Ireland

New Atheist Ireland report: How ETB schools religiously discriminate without accountability

Atheist Ireland is today publishing a new comprehensive report on religious discrimination across the ETB Sector, including Community National Schools. The Education and Training Board (ETB) Sector presents itself as the alternative to denominational schools in Ireland but in reality, these schools can be just as Catholic as those managed ...

09/04/2018 No Comments Atheist Ireland

Despite TUI claims, the Directive on alternatives to religious education did not come out of the blue

Today on RTE, in a debate with Atheist Ireland's Michael Nugent, the General Secretary of the Teachers Union of Ireland said his Union would refuse to even try to implement the new Directive allowing students to choose another subject instead of religion in ETB schools. The TUI's John MacGabhann gave ...

06/04/2018 1 Comment Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland asks TUI to withdraw threat to undermine the rights of parents and children

In an article in the Irish Independent it is stated that teachers are threatening to pull the plug on a new Directive from the Department of Education, which permits students to opt out of religion and pick another subject. It is very disappointing to see the TUI willing to undermine ...

16/03/2018 No Comments Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland supports Solidarity’s Provision of Objective Sex Education Bill

Atheist Ireland supports the Provision of Objective Sex Education Bill 2018 that Solidarity has introduced. If passed in the Oireachtas, it would mean that all students in Ireland could for the first time have access to objective Sex Education. This is a policy that Atheist Ireland has been actively promoting. ...

05/03/2018 7 Comments Atheist Ireland

Catholic Church at UN rejects human right to freedom from religion

Last Friday, 2nd March, at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Holy See opposed the fundamental human right to freedom from religion, claiming that it is a patronising idea that goes beyond the mandate of UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. The Holy See ...

19/02/2018 18 Comments Atheist Ireland

New directive on religious instruction will change the culture of ETB schools

Atheist Ireland welcomes the Department of Education’s new directive on religious instruction in second-level ETB schools. It is the most significant recognition of the constitutional and human rights of atheist, minority faith, and secular families in Irish schools since Atheist Ireland was founded. These rights have always existed, and now ...

14/02/2018 No Comments Atheist Ireland

Atheist Ireland welcomes proposed opt-out from religious instruction in ETB schools

Finally, in ETB schools, a proper opt-out from religion seems about to happen, with alternative subjects being offered at the start of the year, based on proposals that Atheist Ireland has been intensively lobbying for in recent years. The Irish Times has seen records of a coming Ministerial Circular that ...