Atheist Ireland asks Minister to respect parents’ rights in education system after Burke case
Atheist Ireland has written to the Minister for Education and all of the political party Education spokespersons, to seek meetings to discuss the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in the Burke case (Burke v Minister for Education 9.3.21). We believe that this case vindicates our Constitutional right to ensure ...
Atheist Ireland, Evangelical Alliance, and Ahmadiyya Muslims ask UN to strengthen secularism in Ireland
Ireland will be questioned this year by the United Nations Human Rights Council under a process called the Universal Periodic Review. Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland, have made this joint submission to UN on freedom of religion and belief in Ireland. ...
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 ...
Schools teach relevance of religion, as relevance of religion declines
A new specification for religious education in Irish schools aims to teach all children about the relevance of religion to their lives, just as the number of couples choosing a religious marriage is consistently decreasing year on year. Last September, a new specification for NCCA Religious Education was introduced in ...
A Secular State Protects A Pluralist Society – Part 4 of 5 – Education
In July 2019 Atheist Ireland took part in a meeting of the Dialogue Process between the Government, Churches, and Non-Confessional Organisations in Ireland. This page is part 4 of Atheist Ireland's policy document submitted to the Irish Government as part of this process. You can read the other sections of this ...
Submission to NCCA consultation on Junior Cycle Religious Education
This is a joint submission made to the NCCA consultation process on Junior Cycle Religious Education from: Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly, Atheist Ireland Imam Ibrahim Noonan, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland Pastor Nick Park, Executive Director, Evangelical Alliance of Ireland The three groups are pictured above with Nils Muižnieks, ...
Catholic schools will not objectively teach new Religions, Beliefs and Ethics course
The Department of Education is planning a new primary school course of Education about Religions, Beliefs and Ethics. While this sounds good in theory, it will not be delivered objectively in practice. This is because the Irish State cedes control of the ethos of schools to private Patrons, 90% of whom are ...
Atheist Ireland report to UN for Universal Periodic Review of Ireland
Atheist Ireland has submitted the following report for the next United Nations Universal Periodic Review of Ireland's human rights record. We will also be attending the review, to lobby the Council members about religious discrimination against atheists and minority faith members in Ireland. As well as this individual report from Atheist ...
Atheist Ireland meets NCCA about exemption from ERB and Ethics course for Primary Schools
This week Jane Donnelly and Michael Nugent met with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to discuss our concerns about the proposed Education about Religions and Beliefs (ERB) and Ethics course for Primary Schools in Ireland. The Forum on Patronage and Pluralism recommended that this new course be ...
Submission from Atheist Ireland on Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013
Atheist Ireland today made the following submission on the Draft General Scheme of an Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013. Contents 1 Introduction 2 Executive Summary 3 Atheist Ireland Conclusions 4 Atheist Ireland Recommendations 5 Head 3 - Requirement that an Admission Policy states that the School will not Discriminate ...