The Right to Opt out of Religion
March 18, 2019 No Comments

The Right to Opt out of Religion

The right to opt out of religion under the Irish Constitution is not confined to opting out of faith formation or any belief specific teaching. The Constitution does not use the words faith formation in relation to the rights of parents to opt out their children (Article 44.2.4). The Education ...

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Catholic ethos schools integrate the myth of Adam and Eve with the science of evolutionary biology
January 30, 2019 1 Comment

Catholic ethos schools integrate the myth of Adam and Eve with the science of evolutionary biology

While the Roman Catholic Church is broadly supportive of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, their formal doctrine continues to insist on “human exceptionalism”. That is, the Church requires that some dogmatic qualifications are applied to the science, when it comes to human evolution. The Catholic Church teaches that ...

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Catholic Church objected to 2016 CNS religion course, and ETBs failed to protect human rights of minorities
January 18, 2019 1 Comment

Catholic Church objected to 2016 CNS religion course, and ETBs failed to protect human rights of minorities

Documents that Atheist Ireland obtained under FOI show that private dialogue between the Catholic Church and the ETBI failed to protect the human rights of parents who seek secular education based on human rights law in the new Community National Schools. The ETBs ignored their public service duty to protect ...

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Community National Schools learning outcomes were changed from understanding religion to respecting it
January 3, 2019 1 Comment

Community National Schools learning outcomes were changed from understanding religion to respecting it

The Catholic Bishops wrote to Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) in February 2017 stating that the Goodness Me Goodness You course (GMGY) in Community National Schools did not constitute a viable programme for faith nurturing and sacramental education. This was after the Senior part of the GMGY course was ...

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How the State allows the Catholic Church to use the NCCA Religious Education course as a vehicle to evangelise
October 7, 2018 No Comments

How the State allows the Catholic Church to use the NCCA Religious Education course as a vehicle to evangelise

The Minister for Education has reversed a Circular Letter issued last February that permitted students to opt out of religion in ETB (State) schools and choose another subject. The reversal was due to the lobbying of the Catholic Church, Religion Teachers, The Association of Trustees of Catholic schools, The ETBI ...

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Is your local ETB school offering an alternative subject to religion? Contact Atheist Ireland and let us know
August 29, 2018 No Comments

Is your local ETB school offering an alternative subject to religion? Contact Atheist Ireland and let us know

Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland, will be meeting the Department of Education again in September, to discuss the recent directive regarding religion in ETB schools. We would like to be able to bring as much information to that meeting as possible, about what ...

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Letter from Bishop to ETBI reveals climate of secrecy in which Community National Schools are run
August 21, 2018 No Comments

Letter from Bishop to ETBI reveals climate of secrecy in which Community National Schools are run

There is a serious lack of accountability in this country. Our State-run Education and Training Boards (ETBs), and their umbrella body ETB Ireland (ETBI), can make agreements with the Catholic Bishops about our State-run Community National Schools, and the public cannot get access to records in relation to that agreement. ...

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Catholic Bishops have veto in rigged divestment process for schools
August 19, 2018 No Comments

Catholic Bishops have veto in rigged divestment process for schools

Atheist Ireland has obtained, under the Freedom of Information Act, a letter that the Catholic Bishops sent to Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), regarding religion in Community National Schools. The letter is dated 15th February 2017. We have published it below. We have previously written about the conflict of ...

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If religion should not determine health and social policy, it should not determine education policy either
August 6, 2018 No Comments

If religion should not determine health and social policy, it should not determine education policy either

In a recent tweet the Minister for Health, Simon Harris has said that “Religion plays an important role for many on an individual basis - but it will not determine health and social policy in our country any more. Please get that.” Please just make it stop! Increasing access to ...

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What should a Citizens’ Assembly on Religion in Irish schools focus on?
August 2, 2018 No Comments

What should a Citizens’ Assembly on Religion in Irish schools focus on?

The Labour Party has recently proposed that we should have a new Citizens' Assembly to tackle the Constitutional issues surrounding our education system. They have not identified the particular Articles in the Constitution that we would need to look at. Atheist Ireland has consistently argued that the Constitution has failed to protect ...

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