Most Irish second level schools are Catholic or Interdenominational
The Department of Education recently released new figures on second level schools. Media reports last week incorrectly reported that most students are educated in multi-denominational schools. In fact: The vast majority of students (74%) are educated in denominational or interdenominational schools. The High Court has referred to inter-denominational schools as ...
Political parties reply to Atheist Ireland election questions
Atheist Ireland asked each of the political parties ten questions on secular policies. Based on their responses and party manifestos, the four most secular parties (in order of agreement with most of our questions) are People Before Profit/Solidarity, Social Democrats, Green Party, and Labour Party. If separation of church and ...
Atheist Ireland questions for general election candidates 2024
Atheist Ireland is asking the political parties and candidates, who are contesting the General Election on 29th November, to answer these ten questions about secular policies. We will publish the responses to assist you in deciding who to vote for. Please ask your own local candidates these questions, either by ...
How you can help Atheist Ireland’s court case on the right to not attend religion in schools
Atheist Ireland is taking a case to the courts in relation to the education system, and you can help if your family has been directly affected by religious discrimination in schools. Here’s the background. We have campaigned vigorously for years to change the education system. We have sent submissions to ...
Why must schools make Religious Education a core subject in order to protect their religious ethos?
Why is curriculum Religious Education a ‘core subject’ in Irish schools? Catholic and ETB schools say it is in order to uphold the religious ethos of the school. But is this necessary and proportionate to pursue this aim? Before the curriculum Religious Education course and examination was devised, the Department ...
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 ...
Religious teaching in publicly funded schools – a clash of educational ideologies
The Constitutional rights that were meant to protect Irish families from religious teaching in publicly funded schools are simply ignored, and have been undermined over the years. Not only do our children not have access to non denominational secular education but they don’t have access to education delivered in an ...
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 ...
Words in the constitution matter, like not attend religious instruction
The recent referendums have shown that words in the constitution matter. The Supreme Court has found that children have a Constitutional right to not attend any course in religious instruction. The Supreme Court also said that this right is based on the conscience of parents. Despite the fact that the ...