Secular Education

Irish primary schools are State funded but privately run, 88% by the Catholic Church and most of the rest by other religions. Religion is integrated throughout the school day. State-funded schools have the legal right to discriminate on the ground of religion.

Atheist Ireland campaigns for a secular State education system that treats everybody equally regardless of religion or belief and does not favour or discriminate against either religious people or atheists.

In particular, we campaign to:

Put in place statutory guidelines that reflect the right, under Article 44.2.4 of the Irish Constitution, of any child to attend a school receiving state aid without attending religious instruction at that school.
Ensure, as recommended by the UN Human Rights Committee, that non-denominational schools are widely available. Currently there are no non-denominational schools in Ireland with a secular ethos.

Put in place legislation that obliges all schools to convey all parts of the curriculum, including religious education and sex education, in an objective, critical, and pluralistic manner.
Guarantee a neutral studying environment in all state aided schools, outside the confines of optional religious instruction classes, as raised with Ireland by the UN Human Rights Committee.
Have effective legal remedies for parents to vindicate, in practice and law, their constitutional and human right to ensure that their children’s education is not in conflict with their convictions.

We are campaigning for a secular education system that ends religious discrimination, ensures objective teaching, provides non-denominational schools, and protects parental rights in all state-funded schools.