Update: This statement has been agreed between Atheist Ireland and Person A, whose name I have removed from this article and replaced with this pseudonym. “Person A has apologised to Atheist Ireland and to the individual people who have been hurt and whose reputations have been harmed by Person A’s comments quoted here. In particular, […]
Atheist Ireland yesterday made this Submission to the Consultation process, started by the new Minister for Education Richard Bruton, on his Statement of Strategy 2016- 2018. Introduction Atheist Ireland is an Irish advocacy group. We promote atheism and reason over superstition and supernaturalism, and we promote an ethical, secular society where the State does not support […]
Leonie Hilliard has published on Twitter a comment that I made in February on her Facebook page. In it, I referred to a comment that somebody else made criticising “a movement led by greying white men”. That comment, as published now, has since been edited, and I don’t recall what was edited out of or […]
Why the new government’s plans for religious schools will make things worse. Above, my discussion on Newstalk Radio this morning. Irish Times report here: School patronage plans will worsen situation–Atheist Ireland
Atheist Ireland was represented this week at the International Network on Hate Studies conference in the University of Limerick. It was one of the most engaging and informative conferences that we have attended. We learned a lot about prejudice and hate motivated behaviour, which we will be able to bring to our work in Ireland […]
Maryam Namazie is one of the most important and courageous human rights campaigners that I have the privilege to know and work with. She has launched a new website at MaryamNamazie.com which will cover all of her work, videos, press coverage, photos and more. Atheist Ireland is happy to have helped Maryam to design and […]
I’ve just backed John Otway’s Kickstarter campaign to record a new album on the Caribbean Island of Montserrat. As befitting Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure, it will be the first album to be recorded by an international recording artist on the island since the Rolling Stones in 1989. I first saw Otway fall off a set […]
This week saw two significant developments that will affect Atheist Ireland’s work in the coming years: the new Programme for Government, and the UN questioning of Ireland’s human rights record under the Universal Periodic Review process. Atheist Ireland will continue to promote an ethical, secular Ireland as partners in the ongoing dialogue process between the […]
Should creationists give talks in schools? My debate with creationist John Mackay on BBC Radio yesterday.
Today is my late dad’s birthday. On 6 May 1972 he was 50, on the day Leeds beat Arsenal in the Centenary FA Cup Final, so he was for one day exactly half the age of the FA Cup. Earlier that year, an angry neighbour confronted my father in an incident that helped to shape […]