The requirement in the Electoral Act to take a religious oath is a breach of human rights
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 ...
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 ...
The State is giving religious privilege to the Catholic Marriage Agency Accord
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 ...
An Taoiseach Responds to Atheist Ireland Open Letter
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 ...
Conscience clauses in the Constitution
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 ...
The National Council for Curriculum & Assessment has a positive obligation to protect human rights
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 ...
Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta says it is no wonder Atheist Ireland wants nothing to do with PZ Myers
Hemant Mehta, The Friendly Atheist, has said that it is no wonder that Atheist Ireland wants nothing to do with PZ Myers, that he gets why people would rather avoid him, and that after once writing a blurb endorsing PZ’s book, Hemant has wanted less and less to do with ...
Atheist Ireland publicly dissociates itself from the harmful and hateful rhetoric of PZ Myers
Atheist Ireland is publicly dissociating itself from the hurtful and dehumanising, hateful and violent, unjust and defamatory rhetoric of the atheist blogger PZ Myers. The final of many, many straws were his latest smear that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is ‘happily exploiting atrocities’, and his subsequent description of Atheist Ireland’s chairperson ...
The School Admissions Bill will institutionalise religious discrimination
The proposed new Education (Admissions) to Schools Bill will not remove religious discrimination from our education system and protect human rights. Despite the requirement that the Admissions policies of schools will be obliged to include a statement that they shall not discriminate on religion, publicly funded National schools can still ...
Irish law protects marriage from ethical atheists and unethical humanists but not from a spiritualist thief
Tom Colton was recently jailed for stealing €320,000 from an elderly couple. This conviction highlights the suspicion and contempt that the state holds for secular bodies in Ireland. Tom Colton is a registered marriage solemniser in Ireland, as his Spiritualist Union of Ireland is considered a religious body. Despite this conviction, Tom Colton ...