Parents’ rights in schools should not depend on surveying the views of their neighbours
The Department of Eduction is continuing the fiction that the government is transferring patronage of Catholic primary schools in any meaningful way. The Department is also complicating the matter by saying that parents of pupils at Catholic primary schools are to be surveyed to assess the level of support for ...
We don’t accept church and state claims that religious schools are inclusive and respect all
We don’t accept claims by church and state that publicly funded religious schools, particularly Catholic schools which are the majority, are inclusive and welcome and respect everyone equally. The reason we don't accept these claims is that the evidence of reality contradicts them, and we experience the injustice and hurt ...
The state should not allow Catholic bishops to segregate schoolchildren by religion
The Irish Times got documents under FOI that show that the Catholic Bishops are concerned over the ability of Catholic primary schools to keep their ethos. The reason for this concern is because publicly funded Catholic schools can no longer give preference to children from catholic families. You can find ...
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 ...
New Atheist Ireland report – Schools are still defying the law on admission policies
Two years ago, in October 2020, we published a report on how 100 sample schools were defying the legal requirement to publish an Admission Policy which must include details of the school’s arrangements for students who do not want to attend religious instruction. We brought the results to the attention ...
Loreto school in Balbriggan wants to control ‘NPRE’ parents and their children
In Loreto second level school in Balbriggan, students who exercise their Constitutional right to not attend religious instruction are referred to as 'NPRE students', and their parents are referred to as 'parents of NPRE students'. 'NPRE' stands for Non Participation in Religious Education. It could more accurately be described as ...
Schools ignore legal duty to publish arrangements for children who do not attend religious instruction
In the last few weeks parents of children who are starting school this September are attending meetings in schools where information about the school and the procedures is conveyed. Unfortunately no information is given on the right to not attend religious instruction at these meetings or in the Admission policies ...
Catholic Bishops lobby for the right to discriminate against non-Catholic children
Catholic Bishops lobbied the Government last June to change the law, so they could once again be allowed to discriminate against non-Catholic children in access to publicly funded primary schools. RTE's Emma O'Kelly reported that the Bishops said their support for divesting a small number of publicly funded primary schools ...
Comprehensive School with Minister for Education as Patron discriminates on the ground of religion
A Comprehensive school where the Minister for Education is part Patron discriminates on religious grounds against atheist and minority faith families. St. Columba’s Comprehensive School in Glenties, Co. Donegal, discriminates in access by giving preference to children from Catholic backgrounds. It also makes religion mandatory, and claims there is no ...
New Atheist Ireland report – Schools are defying new law on admission policies
A new Atheist Ireland report shows that schools are defying a new law on admission policies. Carl O'Brien of the Irish Times has written about this report this morning. Section 62.7(n) of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 requires schools to publish an admission policy which will include details ...