Follow the money: No accountability for Constitutional condition for aid to schools
Article 44.2.4 of the Constitution singles out religious instruction over the teaching of other school subjects, and makes it the responsibility of the Oireachtas, not the Executive. Article 44.2.4 makes vindicating the right to not attend religious instruction a condition of state aid to schools. When providing state aid to ...
Department and schools defy the law using Circular Letters with no statutory force
The Department of Education, and school patron bodies, are defying the Constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in publicly funded schools, as well as laws that protect that Constitutional right. In doing this, they use Circular Letters that have no statutory power and that unlawfully redefine Constitutional and statutory ...
School Principals can’t make policy on not attending religious instruction
We have recently sent the following letter to the Oireachtas Education Committee. Letter from Atheist Ireland to Oireachtas Education Committee Can you please add this to the file of information from Atheist Ireland that the Committee is considering. "Section 62-7(n) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. A ruling ...
Schools ignore obligations under Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights
The Court of Appeal found that, when it interprets the obligations of a Board of Management under the Education Act 1998, it must have regard to the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights. Probably no Board of Management in the country is even aware what obligations they have ...
Schools cannot use Education Act to impose spiritual values on students, says Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal in the Burke case has confirmed that schools and teachers cannot impose the values/ethos of the school on students, if those values are against the conscience of their parents. Schools and Patron bodies believe that under Section 9 (d) of the Education Act they are legally ...
The Oireachtas, not the Government, must regulate the Constitutional right to not attend religious instruction
The oireachtas, not the Government or the Department of Education or schools, is responsible for regulating the Constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in schools. That is why statutory guidelines are needed, passed by the Oireachtas, not just Government policies, or circular letters from the Department, or abdication of ...
New primary curriculum framework does not address rights of nonreligious families
There is an Article in the Irish Times today “Primary schools to teach foreign languages as religion time cut under new proposals” by Carl O'Brien regarding a new Framework for the Primary school curriculum. It is to be published in 2023 by Minister Norma Foley. As usual this document addresses ...
Parents, not church or state, have the right to provide religious and moral education
The Catholic Bishops wrote to the Dept of Education in 2018, in relation to Circular Letter 0013/2018 issued by the Department of Education. This Circular obliged ETB schools to give students another subject if they exercised their right to not attend religious instruction. It recognised that schools should offer students ...
The State, not school boards, should directly protect the rights of minorities in schools
The term ethos/characteristic spirit is not defined in the Education Act 1998. It can and does mean different things to different Patron bodies, schools and teachers. The term 'ethos' is connected with the choice of parents in relation to the education of their children. Because the majority of parents of ...
Atheist Ireland meeting with Department of Education and NCCA May 2022
Atheist Ireland met with Department of Education and NCCA on 6 May 2022 to discuss the misuse of public funds with regard to the teaching of religion in Irish schools. This is the presentation that we made to that meeting. [pdf-embedder url="https://teachdontpreach.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/AI-Dept-Ed-Mtg-Slides.pdf" title="AI Dept Ed Mtg Slides"]