Religious discrimination in the hiring of Chaplains in ETB schools
Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland have jointly written to the Minister for Education about religious discrimination in the hiring of Chaplains in ETB schools. The WRC found in a recent case that a Designated ETB Community College could not rely on Section 7 ...
An unlawful, systematic and stark attack on the right to not attend religious instruction
In most schools in Ireland the State Religious Education course is taught through the lens of the Catholic Church. Students are told that the course is suitable for all religions and none. Many students are coerced and some are forced into taking the course. The arrangements for students who wish ...
Church and State still undermine the right to not attend religious instruction in schools
Another year begins, and Church and State continue to undermine the Constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in schools. This is an area where there is no separation of Church and State, and where the State instead enables the mission of the Catholic Church to evangelise. There is a Constitutional ...
The Irish State continues to help the Catholic Church to evangelise schoolchildren
The Irish State continues to help the Catholic Church to evangelise schoolchildren. In our education system, Church and State policy is to develop values to enable children to come to an understanding of the relevance of religion to their lives. Children are taught to respect religious beliefs and their codes ...
Schools may not instruct a child in a religion not its own without parental consent
It is constitutionally impermissible to instruct a child in a religion other than its own without the knowledge and consent of its parents. Despite the above, most schools and teachers instruct children in a religion not of their own. Curriculum religious education instructs children in religions not of their own. ...
Schools and teachers should not ask students about their beliefs
Irish schools and teachers regularly breach the right to freedom of religion and belief of students and families. Teachers are not trained to understand the practical application of the right to freedom of religion and belief, or the positive and negative aspects of it. Freedom of religion and belief has a ...
ETB schools continue to discriminate on the ground of religion
The recent case at the WRC in relation to religious discrimination shows clearly how the ETBs are not the solution to the problem of discrimination in our education system, but are part of the problem. The issue at the WRC case was that the school in its Admission policy said ...
ETB school discriminates against child from Catholic family
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has found that a child from Catholic family was discriminated against on the grounds of religion because an Education & Training Board (ETB) school gave preference in admissions to children from Church of Ireland families. Discrimination hurts, and the child was distraught at being refused ...
Back to the future? In 1999, Micheál Martin protected the right to not attend religion class
When Micheál Martin was Minister for Education twenty years ago, he supported and protected the Constitutional rights of parents and their children. As Minister for Education in 1999, he was in no doubt about the Constitutional right of students to attend schools without attending religious instruction. He added that his Department ...
New Atheist Ireland report – Schools are defying new law on admission policies
A new Atheist Ireland report shows that schools are defying a new law on admission policies. Carl O'Brien of the Irish Times has written about this report this morning. Section 62.7(n) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 requires schools to publish an admission policy which will include details ...