This Wednesday 9 April, Irish Senators will discuss a Bill that aims to amend Section 37 of the Irish Employment Equality Act. This is the Section that allows religious institutions, including schools and hospitals, an exemption to discriminate against employees to protect the religious ethos of their institution. This is a link to the Bill. […]
Atheist Ireland will be asking all European and Local Election candidates to sign a Secular Statement, based on the one adopted at the World Atheist Convention in Dublin in 2011. We will publish details of all responses, to enable voters to know which candidates are most and least supportive of freedom of belief and separation […]
Here are extracts from my debate on Tuesday with Martin Gordon, ex-priest and author of ‘No Love Here: A Priest’s Journey’, on the topic God: Myth or Reality? Was Fatima a miracle or delusion? Did God inspire contradictory Gospels? Did sunsets foretell the World Wars? How moral are the Ten Commandments? Why does God allow […]
Here are the opening speeches from my debate on Tuesday with Martin Gordon, ex-priest and author of ‘No Love Here: A Priest’s Journey’, on the topic God: Myth or Reality? Martin Gordon argues God is reality Michael Nugent argues God is a myth
There is a memorable scene in Father Ted where the locals mistake Ted for a racist, and one man greets him with “I hear you’re a racist now, Father! How did you get interested in that type of thing?” The bizarre reasons are invented for comic effect, but they are no more valid than the […]
Do we need God for morality? A recent Pew study shows that most people polled in 40 countries believe so. Yesterday I debated this assertion with Church of England theologian Elaine Storkey, Catholic theologian Tina Beattie, and poet and theologian Padraig O Tuama, on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence hosted by Mark Patterson.
Atheist Ireland has made the following written submission to the Seanad Public Consultation Committee on Ireland’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 1. Overview The key priorities and challenges facing Ireland in complying with the ICCPR are to comply with Articles 2 (nondiscrimination and right to an effective remedy) and 26 […]
The Oireachtas joint Committee on Education has concluded that multiple patronage and ethos as a basis for policy can lead to segregation and inequality in the education system, and that the objectives of admission policy should be equality and integration. This reflects the arguments made by Atheist Ireland to the Committee, both in our written […]
Here is video of my debate about the right to assisted dying on RTE’s Prime Time yesterday, with Doctor Regina McQuillan, hosted by Miriam O’Callaghan.
Today’s Irish court judgment, in which Waterford man Gerald Vollrath was given a suspended sentence for attempting to murder his dying mother in a nursing home, shows the type of tragedy that will inevitably occur when we criminalize something that is morally good, and indeed that some people see as a moral obligation, which is […]