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 ...
Atheist Ireland supports calls for referendum to Repeal 8th Amendment (abortion ban) - section 40.3.3, to the Irish Constitution states: “The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, ...
The Minster for Education and Skills, Jan O'Sullivan TD, has told the Dáil that in respect of hiring for publicly funded chaplain roles, Institutes of Technology in Ireland may be in a "sole supplier situation". Dundalk Institute of Technology has decided that the only supplier capable of providing pastoral services ...
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 ...
The Electoral Act 1992 obliges persons to object publicly to taking a religious oath before they are offered an affirmation. The requirement to publicly object to taking a religious oath before you are offered an affirmation is a breach of human rights. Last July the UN Human Rights Committee reminded ...
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 ...
The Government has cut the funding of Accord, a Catholic Marriage Agency by €378,000 for pre-marriage courses. But despite this cut in funding, Accord will continue to receive State funding for their other services which are all based on the beliefs of one specific religion. Accord offers various services according ...
In February of this year, Atheist Ireland met An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD in his offices. One issue that we discussed related to the government promise of a referendum on blasphemy. In fact, during the meeting Atheist Ireland presented An Taoiseach with an open letter addressed to him directly, from many high profile signatories ...
With all the talk about ‘conscience clauses’ and the same-sex marriage referendum we would like to remind Church and State that there is a ‘conscience clause’ in our Constitution regarding education that they ignore all the time. Article 42.3.1 of the Irish Constitution states that:- The State shall not oblige ...
Atheist Ireland recently met with the NCCA and presented them with a Document named; Respecting the philosophical convictions of atheist/secular families in the education system. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment are developing a course on Education about Religions and Beliefs and Ethics (ERB). Given the legal framework in ...