Katie Levine of Atheist Ireland told RTE's Liveline this week the name of the Irish schoolbook that promoted Catholic theologian and sex abuser Jean Vanier to children. TD Cathal Crowe had recalled the book the previous day but had not named it. It was Alive-O, a Catholic religion book that ...
The Minister for Education, Norma Foley, still has no plans to amend the Education Act 1998 to guarantee that relationship and sexuality education will be delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner and not through religious ethos of schools. Atheist Ireland has made submissions to the National Council for ...
Since December 2021, Atheist Ireland has been lobbying to vindicate the constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in schools, and to uphold parental authority in the education of their children, which the Supreme Court has described as a foundational pillar of the Constitution. As well as lobbying individual politicians ...
Fergus Finlay has moved the goalposts in his response to our article about religious orders. He was originally talking about the right of religious orders to exist. Now he has shifted to talking about the legal consequences for individual people who break the law. We disagree with his original argument, ...
In a recent article in the Irish Examiner, Fergus Finley asks “Why do we still allow religious orders to exist?” He was responding to the latest revelations of clerical sex abuse in Irish schools, this time by the Spiritans who run Blackrock College, and the Carmelites who ran Terenure College. ...
Atheist Ireland strongly disagrees with the harmful Catholic beliefs expressed by Fr Sean Sheehy in his homily last week in Listowel. We also support his right to preach such harmful Catholic beliefs to people who attend Catholic Mass. Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry has apologised for the homily, saying it ...
Reports that the Catholic Church in Dublin is to start moving the preparation of children for sacraments out of the classroom are welcome, but they are exaggerated when compared to the full policy document published by the Archdiocese. The full policy document says that schools will continue to “educate children ...
Atheist Ireland has made the following submission to the Seanad Public Consultation Committee on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland. Contents 1. Executive Summary 2. Recommendations 3. Remove Specific References to God 4. Replace Religious Oaths for Public Office Holders 5. Amend Articles on Fundamental Rights 1. Executive Summary ...
Children are heading back to school, and parents are again left in the position that they must negotiate their Constitutional rights with the school. This is what minorities have to put up with in our Republic. Schools give no practical application to our Constitutional rights, and the Department of Education, ...
In a recent article in the Irish Times, Breda O’Brien reminds us that the Catholic Church is not a democracy so we should not expect radical change. The article is about the Catholic Church’s synodal process. It seems that many Catholics want change in the moral teachings of the church. But, ...