Religion & Religious Practice

Atheist Ireland’s secular State would reduce freedom of religion to freedom of worship

Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland, has presented the usual litany of discrimination allegedly suffered by atheists and religious minorities in Ireland in an article for The Irish Times this week.  He calls a more secular state.  But what kind of secular State? The kind he wants would have almost no place for religion in public...

The place of religion in Irish society

Iona Institute Director, David Quinn, appeared on RTE’s Prime Time last week to debate Census figures showing a decline in the number of Irish people who consider themselves to be Catholic. He debated what this means with Una Mullally of The Irish Times. In particular they discussed whether faith schools should continue to received public...

‘If only the old communists had lived to see religion in the West today’

A conference in Vienna on the persecution of Christians worldwide earlier this month heard that Europe has shown a worrying rise in State-sponsored hostility to freedom of religion. “Concern for overt persecution should not blind us to more subtle forms of hostility and, yes, of persecution” said Gudrun Kugler, the founder of the “Observatory on...

Should Catholic schools have to teach a world religions course?

On Monday on Newstalk’s Drive show, David Quinn of The Iona Institute, and Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland, debated whether or not Catholic (and other denominational schools) should have to teach a proposed new world religions course. David said denominational schools should teach knowledge of, respect for, all religions, but that their right to teach their...

Why ‘nones’ abandon religion and what to do about it

A new opinion poll from the US lists some of the reasons why people abandon ‘organised religion’. These are the so-called ‘nones’, as in “my religion is ‘none’”. If a similar poll was done here, the reasons given for abandoning religion would be similar I am sure. The reasons range from the hypocrisy of some...

Religion question in Census 2016 really measures subjective feelings about religion

There has been a minor kerfuffle about the religion question in the Census everyone was supposed to do last night. The question is a simple one; ‘what is your religion?’ The kerfuffle has centred mainly on how people should answer the question, and specifically whether it would be more honest for someone who almost never...

A State agency’s unjust attack on religious ethos

State discrimination against religious views and bodies is becoming an issue. Recent reports indicate that Tusla (the Child and Family Agency) is set to withdraw public funding from the Boyle Family Life Centre, an ethos-based service provider of the Diocese of Elphin, which serves the practical needs of both the parish community and the wider...

Attitudes Towards the Catholic Church

Attitudes Towards the Catholic Church

Speech of John Bruton in defence of religious education

This is the text of a speech given by John Bruton on 7th April in defence of religious education. It was given as part of a series of Lenten Lectures, hosted jointly by the Catholic, Church of Ireland and Presbyterian parishes of Booterstown, Dublin.

Church attendance in Ireland increases.

A new poll conducted by RedC on behalf of The Iona Institute shows that weekly church attendance has increased from 42 percent to 46 percent in the last 18 months while the number who go at least once a month has jumped from 54 percent to 65 percent.