Human Rights Standards Archives | Page 2 of 11

June 21, 2017 No Comments admin

Education Committee report must not lead to fine-tuning of religious discrimination

The Oireachtas Education Committee has made two important recommendations regarding religious discrimination in Irish schools. The most important proposal is respecting the right to opt out from religion in schools, and putting in place guidelines to enable this to happen. The second is ending the use of baptism certs in ...

June 13, 2017 No Comments admin

Church and State; Undermining the human rights of parents and their children

There are basic human rights principles in relation to the teaching of religion in schools. The human rights Guiding Principle is that religion must be delivered in an objective, critical and pluralistic in order to ensure respect for parents’ religious or philosophical convictions. If the teaching of religion is not ...

June 5, 2017 1 Comment admin

The Irish Education System is unique in the control that the State gives to churches

The Irish Education system is unique in the control that the State gives to churches. Comparing State funding of faith schools in other countries with the Irish education system is misleading. This is because, in the countries that do fund faith schools, most children attend a parallel system of non-denominational ...

June 3, 2017 No Comments admin

Church and State: Evangelising minorities in Irish schools

We live in a Country where the desire of some people for a religious education for their children takes precedence over the right of other parents not to have their children evangelised into religion while accessing education. Non-religious families are discriminated against on religious grounds, and when most of these ...

May 14, 2017 4 Comments admin

Support the Equal Participation in Schools Bill 2016

The Equal Participation in Schools Bill 2016 will be debated in the Dail next Tuesday night between 8pm and 10pm. If passed this Bill would ensure that all children and their parents have access to an education system with equal respect and dignity and where their human rights are guaranteed. ...

April 3, 2017 1 Comment admin

UN tells Ireland to introduce compulsory objective sex education

A United Nations Committee has recommended that Ireland should integrate objective compulsory sex education into the school curriculum, and should closely monitor and evaluate its delivery by schools. This is a result of Atheist Ireland raising this issue with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). It is the ...

March 30, 2017 4 Comments admin

Another Catholic School forces Muslim students into Catholic Liturgies. So where did this policy come from?

Holy Child School, Killiney, forces Muslim students into Catholic Liturgies. This is a publicly funded Le Cheile second level school (A Catholic schools Trust). This is the second school we have found with this policy. Colaiste Bride in Clondalkin also forces Muslim students into Catholic Liturgies. Their policy is exactly ...

March 30, 2017 No Comments admin

School forces Muslim students into Catholic liturgies

In response to an issue raised by Atheist Ireland in relation to students being forced into religious ceremonies, the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton has again stated that students cannot be forced into religious instruction or ceremonies against the wishes of their parents. Atheist Ireland had raised the issue of ...

March 29, 2017 No Comments admin

Yet another Council of Europe Report calls for end to religious discrimination in Irish schools

Atheist Ireland welcomes that the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, has told the Irish Government that the State is responsible for ending the breaches of human rights of atheist and minority faith pupils and parents in Irish schools. When Commissioner Muiznieks visited Ireland last November, he ...

February 20, 2017 No Comments admin

State-funded Catholic schools fundamentally object to teaching religious pluralism

In Ireland one of the key issues in the Primary school Curriculum is pluralism. The Curriculum says it has a responsibility to promote tolerance and respect for diversity, in both the school and the community. Despite this, State-funded schools with a Catholic ethos fundamentally object to teaching religious pluralism within ...