Atheist Ireland welcomes positive exit poll figures on blasphemy referendum

October 26, 2018

Exit polls suggest that today’s Yes vote might be between 69% (Irish Times exit poll) and 71% (RTE exit poll). We must remember that these are only exit polls, and not the official result of the vote, which we will not know until tomorrow or Sunday. Whatever the actual result, Atheist Ireland would like to […]

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Ronan Mullen voted against the blasphemy law in 2009, despite now denying that he did so

October 19, 2018

Senator Ronan Mullen voted against the Irish blasphemy law in 2009, despite denying that he did so on Prime Time yesterday. He opposed the blasphemy law because it did not explicitly allow religious people to blaspheme against matters held sacred by other religions. He added: ‘I say this as someone who worked for five and […]

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How the Islamic States at the United Nations use the Irish blasphemy law to justify their own laws

October 19, 2018

One of the arguments that Atheist Ireland has made, in support of removing the Irish blasphemy law, is that repressive regimes have used our law to politically justify their use of blasphemy laws, and to attempt to spread blasphemy laws around the world. Here is the most significant example of this in action, in which […]

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Atheist Ireland welcomes unopposed Blasphemy Referendum vote in Dail

September 18, 2018

Atheist Ireland welcomes today’s unopposed vote in the Oireachtas to hold a referendum on 26th October to remove the offence of blasphemy from the Irish Constitution. We have been campaigning for a decade to get this referendum called, and we will campaign for the next six weeks for a Yes vote. We support the right […]

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Vote on 26th October to remove the Irish blasphemy law

September 18, 2018

The Irish Constitution, written in 1937, makes blasphemy an offence punishable by law. There will be a referendum on 26 October (along with the Presidential election) in which we can vote to remove this anachronistic offence. Atheist Ireland supports the right to freedom of religion or belief, the right to freedom of speech, and the […]

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Seven reasons to protest Pope Francis

August 19, 2018

Six years ago, Atheist Ireland joined LGBT Noise in a small protest outside the Catholic Church’s Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, against the ongoing efforts by the Vatican to oppose equal civil rights for LGBT people. A lot has changed since then. This week Atheist Ireland will join a much larger number of protesters, in Dublin […]

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Yet again, a Presidential election that excludes conscientious atheists

August 4, 2018

Yet again Ireland is to hold a Presidential election that excludes conscientious atheists as candidates, as in order to take office we would have to swear a religious oath that is in our Constitution. This would force us to dissemble about our beliefs, and breaches our human right to freedom of conscience and belief. The […]

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Atheist Ireland to meet Department of Justice today to discuss new blasphemy repeal bill

July 18, 2018

Atheist Ireland welcomes the published wording of the proposed amendment of the Constitution on around 25 October to repeal the offence of blasphemy. Atheist Ireland will be meeting this afternoon with officials in the Department of Justice, to clarify any technical or logistical questions that we have. We will then commence our fourteen-week campaign in […]

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Allez les bleus, twenty years on from the magic of my only live World Cup Final in Paris in 1998

July 15, 2018

Twenty years ago this weekend, my wife Anne and I were in Paris to watch the 1998 World Cup final. It remains the culmination of my football-watching life. Nothing since has matched the scale of the atmosphere of seeing the inspired French defeat the magical Brazilians before a passionate home crowd to capture the world’s […]

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Atheist Ireland welcomes part of Schools Admissions Bill and continues our work for secular schools

July 11, 2018

The Education (Admissions to Schools) Bill has now passed in the Dail. From September the vast majority of schools will no longer be able to discriminate in entry on the grounds of religion. However, minority religious schools can still continue to discriminate as they still have exemptions from equality laws. Atheist Ireland has been campaigning […]

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