At a Pro-Life procession in Dublin today, a van with megaphones blared Bible verses to the pedestrians. It reminded me of the early 1980s, a primitive time before mobile phones with video recorders and Internet memes, when I witnessed a related incident that has been passed on through the generations by way of oral tradition. […]
Andy O’Brien interviewed me on his podcast yesterday. We discussed the Irish general election, the secular politics of each party, Islamophobia, violence by supposed anti-fascists in Dublin, online smears and football trivia.
How do the political parties in this Friday’s General Election stand on separation of Church and State, with a particular focus on secular education and blasphemy? Atheist Ireland is not asking people to vote for any particular party or candidate. Atheists and secularists are typically independently-minded people who each value our own personal analysis of […]
In my latest post, I included a section on hate speech and how to navigate the balance between freedom of expression and other rights. Mark Hoskins responded with this comment: “Well done on mansplaining hate speech Michael.” Well, thanks, Mark, but your compliment is misdirected. The section on hate speech was researched and written by Jane […]
Here’s the second part of my interview with Ciaron O Floinn and Ashling O’Brien on Freethought Friday. We discuss the use of the word Islamophobia to silence criticism of Islam, the recent pattern of people being disinvited from scheduled talks, and the Ashers Bakery case in Northern Ireland. And here is the first part, broadcast […]
I strongly oppose prejudice and bigotry and discrimination against anybody based on their personal identity. I strongly support fundamental human rights including freedom from discrimination and equality before the law. I encourage people to be kind, empathetic, ompompassionate, cooperative, reciprocal, just and fair in online discussions. I encourage people to criticise bad ideas robustly, while […]
I’m writing this in a hurry before leaving for an all-day conference in Dublin Castle about the UN Human Rights Council. Atheist Ireland will be addressing a pre-session meeting of the Council in Geneva in March, where we will again be defending the human rights of atheists and minority faith members in Ireland. While we are […]
Atheist Ireland has been selected to speak at a pre-session meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March, as part of the lead-up to the Human Rights Council questioning Ireland about its human rights record in May. During the Pre-session meeting, several speakers will deliver statements. The moderator will then pose some […]
Jane Donnelly and I took part in a very positive Inter Belief Dialogue conference in Mary Immaculate College Limerick yesterday. There were representatives from the NCCA, which is currently preparing a State course for primary schools about religion, beliefs and ethics, as well as speakers from various religious and nonreligious perspectives. Jane Donnelly and I […]
I would like to thank Michael Barron for ringing me today to apologise for his comment on Aoife Fitzgibbon O’Riordan Facebook page, in which Aoife had falsely accused me of using dog-whistle homophobia to defend misogyny. Michael has sent me the following email to publish here: “Hi, Michael. It was very good to talk with […]