Irish school teachers must be Catholic missionaries
Thinking of getting into the teaching profession in Ireland? If so be prepared to be a missionary for the Catholic Church. The vast majority of publicly funded schools in Ireland are controlled by the Catholic Church, and if you want to get a job as a teacher you have to ...
End religious discrimination against teachers who are atheist
The Irish Government is proposing a Bill to protect LGBT teachers, while allowing religious discrimination against teachers who are atheist and minority faiths. Atheist Ireland is campaigning to change this Bill so that it protects all teachers equally. This is a rare opportunity to change an unjust law and ...
Atheist Ireland asks Council of Europe to protect human rights in Irish schools with O’Keeffe ruling
Atheist Ireland has made a report to the Council of Europe about the Louise O'Keeffe judgement last year in the European Court of Human Rights. Atheist Ireland has made a report to the Council of Europe about the Louise O'Keeffe judgement last year in the European Court of Human Rights, ...
Atheist Ireland to lobby EU, as Irish State says EU sanctions discrimination against atheist teachers
Irish State claims EU sanctions discrimination against atheist teachers. After today’s Seanad debate, the Bill to protect teachers from religious discrimination in schools will still not protect atheist or religious minority teachers at all, including Protestant or Muslim teachers, who cannot access the teaching profession in Ireland. Atheist Ireland will ...
Labour Party forgets its pledge to protect atheist teachers
The Labour Party seems to have forgotten the pledge in the Programme for Government to protect non-faith and minority faith teachers along with publicly out LGBT teachers, despite the Labour Party claiming political ownership of that particular Government commitment. A Labour Party press release today is now selectively recasting it ...
First Atheist Ireland report from Geneva of UN questioning Ireland on human rights breaches
This is the first Atheist Ireland report of our very successful briefing and lobbying session this week in Geneva. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was questioning Ireland on its human rights obligations. Atheist Ireland was there along with other Irish civil society groups and the Irish Human Rights ...
Atheist Ireland briefs UN about religious discrimination in Ireland
Atheist Ireland has just made the following statement to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. We will next be attending a more detailed briefing session with UN Committee members, then the Committee will be questioning Ireland about its human rights record. The Twitter ...
Is there religious equality in our third level educational institutions?
Atheist Ireland has examined, through a Freedom of Information request to Dundalk Institute of Technology, how decisions around the direct funding of Churches from public monies are made. Article 44.2.2 of the Irish Constitution says that “the State guarantees not to endow any religion.” This provision prohibits the funding of a specific ...
State tells UN that children are refused access to schools only in exceptional cases
The State has informed the United Nations that Irish legislation provides that, in exceptional cases, a school can refuse to admit a student who is not of the religion of the school, provided that it can prove that this refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school. This ...
What about the freedom of conscience of Catholic parents who disagree with the Church?
Despite claims from the No side, teaching practices will not change in Irish schools if there is a Yes vote in the marriage referendum. There are many Catholic parents who support marriage equality, and their children, along with the children of secular parents and religious minorities will continue to be ...