The murder of David Amess MP

Eight years ago David Amess MP and I were on opposing sides at a debate in the Oxford Union. I argued that religion harms society, and David defended religion from his perspective as a Catholic. We disagreed fundamentally, but we did so peacefully and respectfully.

Penalty kicks and racist abuse

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka are football heroes who should be celebrated. They have represented their country at the highest level while still in their teens. They now face abuse that is absurd in its ignorance about football, and abhorrent in its expression of racism.

The national maternity hospital

In a democratic republic, the State should own and directly run the national maternity hospital. It should not cede control over this essential public service to any private body, never mind to a charity associated with the Catholic church, which has an appalling record of human rights abuses and an ethos that opposes reproductive rights […]

The right to freedom of thought

Atheist Ireland has made the following submission about Freedom of Thought to Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Mr Shaheed had called for inputs to a report he is compiling for the UN General Assembly on the topic.

Eye can see clearly now

After three months with double vision, I was finally discharged from my hospital outpatient visits yesterday. My sight is now functional again, and should be completely restored within weeks. Combining that with getting my first Covid vaccine two weeks ago, I would like to thank the health service staff for their wonderful work in these […]

An open letter to the AHA about Richard Dawkins

I have written the following letter to the American Humanist Association. Please reconsider your decision to publicly withdraw from Richard Dawkins the Humanist of the Year award that you gave him in 1996. By doing this you are sustaining a pattern in recent years of people unjustly portraying Richard as something of a cartoon villain.

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