Atheist Ireland Forum

http://www.thejournal.ie/ruairi-quinn-p ... e-2011-03/

Some good news that AIs efforts have had some effect.

this is great news!!!!

One explanation for the church welcoming this is that it simply hasn't the resources to maintain the status quo. Bishops and priests are very old and there are relatively few left and they replacement rate is far below the norm.

well what ever the reason I welcome the change. The patronage system is very bad in my opinion

That interview looks quite good – We’ll see how it applies in practice.

Seems like good news, but I don't like this whole 'Catholic Church is in the driver seat' idea.

As the interviewer says, "The ball is very much in the Church's Court."

Quinn says it's in society's court...

We'll see. I know someone told me not to worry about this, but I'm not hearing the word 'secular' enough for my liking.

Atheist Irelands opinion on the matter might help alleviate any concerns.
http://www.atheist.ie/2011/03/atheist-i ... h-schools/

I read that, and it is precisely what I would expect from AI. However, my concerns are really just a vague feeling that everyone tip-toes around this idea. I'm not saying that it has never been said, but I have not heard it said from Quinn or any politicians that the true goal for our society should be a secular education system that protects everyone's rights.

It's all about the current system not reflecting the diversity of our society. Maybe that's the same thing, but I just can't shake the feeling that there is an aversion to secularism in the public and that politicians are careful not to set off those alarm bells. This might be significant, or it might just be political tact.

Good news. I thought the interview was informative and clear. Quinn has restored some of my faith (no pun intended) in politics.

@Mirthomaniac

the UN already warned Ireland that they had to do something with the education ages ago. The old government just put their head in the sand. The new government might want to show the international community that they mean business and take human rights and the UN serious.

Well I hope this anyway!

Please, call me James



I was aware of the whole UN/Human rights issue as of some months ago. I freely admit that before then I was just happy to complain about the system without actually looking at what people were saying about it and what measures had been taken.

Thing is, I was almost with George Carlin on this whole 'human rights' concept. This video sums it up I think. (about 4 and a half mins in)

Once he gets past his usual observational type stuff, he makes a pretty funny point that also made me think. We don't have rights if they can move to take them away, make any arguments against them like 'majority rules', or otherwise infringe upon them. Unless they are totally inalienable, they're not rights. Just priveliges.

So when the government is told to 'shape up or else', and nothing seems to happen, I can't help but feel disillusioned

I share these concerns, and our response qualifies our welcome to take this into account:


We still have a difficult campaign ahead of us to move from greater diversity to secularism, but it is important that we acknowledge this as a major practical step in the right direction.

I'll agree with that, it's a practical step. I suppose it is unreasonable to expect too much change too fast, especially when we were a de facto theocracy not too long ago.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0311/quinnr.html

don't like this interview, its all up to the church to choose, and the catholic parents.

one still needs to tackle the whole concept of patronage