The Court of Appeal found that, when it interprets the obligations of a Board of Management under the Education Act 1998, it must have regard to the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights. Probably no Board of Management in the country is even aware what obligations they have ...
Atheist Ireland had a constructive meeting this week with the Catholic Education Partnership, the body that coordinates Catholic education in Ireland. We met in Maynooth with chief executive officer Alan Hynes and chairperson Marie Griffin, and we have arranged a follow-up meeting to further discuss these issues: The right to ...
Yesterday the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, introduced the New Primary School curriculum framework. You can find the framework here and frequently asked questions here. This new Framework could mean more time spent on religion in primary schools, not less. Officially, the new curriculum reduces the time spend on the ...
Atheist Ireland has written the following letter to the Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD. Dear Minister, You have recently stressed that parents have a right to ensure that their children can withdraw from the updated sex education course on the basis of conscience. But you have not put the ...
Atheist Ireland has written the following letter to the Attorney General about the constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in irish schools. Dear Mr Fanning, We are writing to you in your Constitutional capacity as the adviser of the Government in matters of law and legal opinion. We are ...
The Workplace Relations Commission has ruled that the Irish Defence Forces discriminated on the ground of religion against former Atheist Ireland officer John Hamill by not giving him an equal opportunity to apply for the position of military chaplain. The Irish Times reported on this yesterday, and John Hamill has ...
Many people are aware that the Irish Constitution requires the President and judges to swear a religious oath. Many people are unaware that this also applies to the Council of State, which includes the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Chief Justice, the President of Court of Appeal, the President of High Court, ...
The Minister for Education, Norma Foley, has just given a telling example of how the Department of Education gives privilege to religious parents over nonreligious parents in Irish schools. As Carl O'Brien reports in the Irish Times, the Minister has stressed that parents have a right to ensure that their ...
This is from the Admission policy of Larkin Community College, a second level ETB school. There is no legal basis for the supposed distinction it makes between religious instruction and religious education. It is important to understand that our school does not provide ‘religious instruction’ and therefore the need to ...
Atheist Ireland has for years been raising the issue of objective sex education with the United Nations. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child included the following in its recent concluding observations about Ireland: Adolescent health (b) Integrate comprehensive, age-appropriate and evidence-based education on sexual and reproductive health into ...