Atheist Ireland | Education Archives - Page 5 of 19

09/04/2018 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 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 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 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 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 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 ...

31/01/2018 Atheist Ireland

Minister for Education to review ETB schools paying Catholic Church to train students to evangelise

The Minister for Education has told Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger that he will review the practice of ETB schools paying the Roman Catholic Church to train students in faith leadership. Last month Atheist Ireland revealed details of these controversial courses, that train some students to evangelise others, through our freedom ...

15/01/2018 Atheist Ireland

FOI documents reveal Atheist Ireland’s impact on review of religion in ETB schools

Based on new documents obtained under Freedom of Information Act, and on our meeting with the Department of Education last month, Atheist Ireland is optimistic that the Minister for Education will soon issue a Circular Letter about the timetabling of religion in ETB schools, that we requested the Minister to ...

13/12/2017 Atheist Ireland

Department hid emails admitting ETB religion policies are most difficult to defend

In a series of emails that the Department of Education tried to hide from Atheist Ireland, the head of Education and Training Boards Ireland recently revealed that he didn’t know whether an important Department policy about religion was in force in ETB schools. He also admitted that the current situation ...

21/11/2017 Atheist Ireland

Submission to NCCA consultation on Junior Cycle Religious Education

This is a joint submission made to the NCCA consultation process on Junior Cycle Religious Education from: Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly, Atheist Ireland Imam Ibrahim Noonan, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland Pastor Nick Park, Executive Director, Evangelical Alliance of Ireland Contents 1. Introduction 1.1 The course should be renamed ...