We must respect human rights of parents who want secular schools
The Irish Independent today published this article by Michael Nugent about the human right to a secular education. It includes the key points that Atheist Ireland made in our response to the interim report of the Forum for Patronage and Pluralism in Irish Education. The final report will be given ...
Atheist Ireland response to Forum on Patronage and Pluralism
Ensuring Effective Remedies for an Objective, Critical and Pluralistic Secular Education Atheist Ireland has responded to the interim report of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism. The Forum is to send its final report to the Minister for Education by the end of December. We have four overriding recommendations for ...
Atheist Ireland submission to Department of Education on school enrolment
This is a link to Atheist Ireland's submission to the Department of Education's discussion paper on a regulatory framework for school enrolment, submitted to the Department today. Atheist Ireland submission to Department of Education on school enrolment
Atheist Ireland meets Irish Government Forum on Primary Education Part 2
Here is a summary of the questions and answers part of the meeting last Tuesday between Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly of Atheist Ireland, and the Department of Education’s Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector. We were questioned by the Advisory Group to the Forum, which consists ...
Atheist Ireland meets Irish Government Forum on Primary Education
Yesterday, Tuesday September 6, Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly attended the Department of Education’s Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector. We were there to elaborate on, and answer questions about, the written submission that Atheist Ireland previously made to the Forum. We were questioned by the Advisory ...
Teaching about Religions and Beliefs
by Jane Donnelly The Mater Dei Institute is at it again. Link to the pdf of their Submission to the Forum on Education In their Submission to the Forum on Education they again recommend the Toledo Guiding Principles but state that this education cannot be adequately described by the ...
Parents talk about the obstacles in obtaining a secular education for their child in Ireland
Alex Meehan of the Sunday Business Post interviewed some parents recently who have persevered in trying to get a secular education for their children. Although parents have the right to ask for their children to be exempted from religious classes at school in Ireland, those who opt for this meet ...
Atheist Ireland response to European Court ruling on crucifixes in classrooms
The European Court of Human Rights today ruled that Italian State schools may display crucifixes on classroom walls, overturning an earlier judgment to the contrary. Today's judgment lays down many important points of human rights law in favour of secularism, and it leaves open the possibility of further legal challenges ...
Atheist Ireland welcomes new forum on Catholic patronage of Irish schools
Atheist Ireland welcomes the decision by Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn to establish a forum to identify how schools can be transferred out of Catholic patronage as a matter of immediate priority. We hope to participate as fully as possible in this forum as an advocacy group for an ethical ...
UN to monitor racial and religious discrimination in Irish schools
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination (CERD) will be monitoring Ireland's record on this issue at meetings from 14 February to 11 March. The CERD sees a link between racial and religious discrimination. In its last report on Ireland, in 2005, the CERD asked Ireland ...