Oireachtas must oversee Constitutional condition for state aid to schools re religious instruction
Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the newly established Oireachtas Committee on Public Accounts. Oversight of the Constitutional Condition for State Aid to Schools 1. Summary 2. The Constitutional Condition for State Aid 3. Legislative Responsibility under Article 15 4. Absence of Statutory Guidelines or Oversight 5. Relevant ...
Atheist Ireland writes to new Minister for Education about non-denominational schools
Atheist Ireland has written the following letter to Helen McEntee TD, the new Minister for Education, about the commitment to non-denominational education in Programme for Government. Dear Minister McEntee, Congratulations on your new role and we wish you well. You are the ninth Minister for Education we have dealt with, ...
By law, schools must not shorten the school day for children who do not attend religious instruction
When parents seek to remove their child from religious instruction, many schools ignore their constitutional and legal duty to respect this right, and their legal duty to do this without shortening the school day of any student concerned. Some schools tell parents that they can’t supervise students outside the religion ...
Atheist Ireland submission to NCCA on Draft Primary Curriculum Specifications
Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the NCCA Consultation on the Draft Primary Curriculum Specifications. Introduction This submission focuses on two areas of the draft specifications: Social and Environmental Education (Geography and History) Wellbeing (Physical Education and Social, Personal and Health Education) Both of these areas include items ...
Atheist Ireland letter to Ministers re Incitement to Hatred Bill and recent European Court case
Atheist Ireland has written the following letter to the Minister for Justice, Taoiseach, Tanaiste, and Minister for Equality regarding the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill and the recent Sokolovskiy v. Russia case at the European Court of Human Rights. Dear Ministers and Taoiseach, We would like ...
The rights to religious formation in schools and to not attend religious instruction
The state pays out approx 10 million a year for mainly catholic chaplains in ETB schools (there are some COI chaplains). Chaplains are paid by the state to help Catholic parents with the religious formation of their children. We know this because there was a court case in 1998 about ...
Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression – United Nations Human Rights 75 Pledge by Atheist Ireland
Atheist Ireland has made a pledge to the United Nations Human Rights 75 initiative to oppose laws against blasphemy and promote freedom of expression. 1. Background to Atheist Ireland Atheist Ireland is a voluntary advocacy group based in Ireland. We have Special Consultative Status at the United Nations. We promote atheism, reason, ...
Freedom of Religion or Belief – UN Human Rights 75 Pledge by Atheist Ireland
Atheist Ireland has made a pledge to the United Nations Human Rights 75 initiative to promote the consistent use of the full phrase ‘Freedom of Religion or Belief’ instead of the incomplete phrase 'Freedom of Religion.' 1. Background to Atheist Ireland Atheist Ireland is a voluntary advocacy group based in Ireland. ...
What qualifies under the right to freedom of philosophical belief?
Atheist Ireland met Minister for Children and Equality Roderic O’Gorman last week. Afterwards, we wrote the following to the Minister about the right to freedom of ‘religion or belief’. Dear Minister O'Gorman, we discussed at our meeting what test should be used to determine what does or does not qualify as ...
The right to objective sex education, not delivered through Catholic ethos
Atheist Ireland met Minister for Children and Equality Roderic O’Gorman last week. Afterwards, we wrote the following to the Minister about the right to objective sex education. Dear Minister O'Gorman, the right to objective sex education is infringed by allowing Catholic schools to deliver the state curriculum in accordance with ...