Following our 2012 Annual General Meeting yesterday, these are the mission, aims, officers, committee members, and political and other priorities for Atheist Ireland for the next year:
Contents
- Mission Statement and Aims
- Officers and Committee
- Major Political Priorities
- Policy on Ethical Issues
- Making Atheist Ireland Inclusive
- Women in Secularism Conference
- Good Without Gods Initiative
- Organizational Priorities
- Prepare for our Fifth Anniversary
- Strategy Workshop 10 November
1. Mission Statement and Aims
- The following are the first three lines of our constitution:
- Mission statement: Atheist Ireland aims to build a rational, ethical and secular society free from superstition and supernaturalism.
- Aim 1: to promote atheism and reason over supernaturalism and superstition.
- Aim 2: to promote an ethical and secular Ireland where the state does not support or fund or give special treatment to any religion.
2. Officers and Committee
- Chairperson – Michael Nugent
- Secretary – Helen O’Shea
- Finance Officer – Steven Duggan
- Regional Officer – Derek Walsh
- Education Officer – Jane Donnelly
- Peter Burke (Good without Gods)
- Leonie Hilliard (Women in Secularism)
- Martijn Leenheer (Education)
- Vivienne Trulock (Good without Gods)
- More members to be co-opted on 10 November
- Dublin Rep – Harry Guinness
- Cork Rep – Joe O’Regan
3. Major Political Priorities
- Promote the Dublin Declaration on Secularism
- Promote the proposal Five Steps to a Secular State
- Continue our dialogue with Irish Government
- Start dialogue with local Councils
- Promote a secular Irish Constitution
- Lobby the new Constitutional Convention
- Continue our campaign for secular education
- Start dialogue with Educate Together
- Start a campaign for secular health care
- Lobby on religion question in census
- Continue our dialogue with EU, UN, OSCE etc
- Combat international blasphemy laws
- Be active in Atheist Alliance International
4. Policy on Ethical Issues
- Promote our policies for an ethical secular Ireland in a positive way.
- Highlight incidents where religions are behaving unethically.
- Promote specific ethical positions based on the following principles: that society should address ethical issues based on human rights and compassion, and applying reason to empirical evidence, and not on religious doctrines; and that individual ethical decisions should where possible be made on the basis of personal autonomy and individual conscience, while not infringing on the rights of others.
- Respect that individual members are not required to agree with or support each policy position we take.
- Support and work with other civil groups who are actively seeking ethical changes in society.
- Promote discussion of the draft manifesto to promote ethical atheism published by Michael Nugent.
5. Making Atheist Ireland Inclusive
- Be inclusive, caring and supportive of people of all races, genders, sexualities and abilities
- Include people of diverse backgrounds on our organizing committees and event panels
- In particular, aim for a reasonable gender balance in our activities
- Host family-friendly events including museum visits, outdoor activities and brunches
- Host our events in venues suitable for wheelchair users
- Host our events in ways that accommodate people with other disabilities
- Make our website as usable as possible for people with disabilities
- Develop policies to help people to feel safe and enjoy themselves at our activities
- Support the anti-harassment policy of Atheist Alliance International
6. Women in Secularism Conference
- Organize an international Women in Secularism conference in Dublin
- Invite speakers from Ireland, elsewhere in Europe, and other Continents
- The theme of the conference is Empowering Women Through Secularism
- Start promoting theme on UNSECO Philosophy Day November15
- Support the CFI Women in Secularism Conference in Washington
7. Good Without Gods Initiative
- Do good for community without religious influence
- Raise money for Kiva and secular charities
- Compile list of secular-safe charities to support
- Support and promote charitable activities by members
- Respond to requests for help where we can provide it
- Visit people in institutions without preaching
- Find out guidelines and vetting for visiting people
- Share or donate secular books and DVDs etc
8. Organizational Priorities
- Increase our active paid-up membership
- Promote active membership among our online supporters
- Contact lapsed members to find out why they left
- Reduce or remove membership fees for students
- Offer discounts for automatic fee renewal
- Examine option of life membership
- Promote our activities on other web forums
- Expand our local groups in Dublin and Cork
- Establish other local groups around the country
- Local groups will lobby, monitor media and hold events
- Create visible social alternatives in local areas
- Host local meetings to set up local committees
- Put in place operational budget for local groups
- Arrange speakers for local groups
- Enable other groups to affiliate to Atheist Ireland
- Build on success of Secular Sunday newsletter
- Consolidate and improve our online presence
- Have same website design across all of our domains
- Update back-end of website to be more functional
- Put in place budget to do this
- Promote and protect our name and logo
9. Prepare for our Fifth Anniversary
- Atheist Ireland will be five years old in November 2013
- Host a high-profile fundraiser to celebrate first five years
- Review our constitution, structure etc before then
10. Strategy Workshop Sat 10 November
- Host strategy workshop on Saturday 10 November
- Examine how best to do all of the above in practice
- Assign responsibility for specific activities
- Co-opt new members to committee
Working for an ethical, secular society: Atheist Ireland’s plans for next year