Atheist Ireland
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| Motto | Building a rational, ethical and secular society, free from superstition and supernaturalism. |
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| Formation | 30 November 2008 |
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Region served
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Ireland |
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Chairperson
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Michael Nugent |
| Affiliations | Atheist Alliance International |
| Website | Atheist.ie |
Atheist Ireland is an association of atheists based in Ireland. The group was initially founded by members of Atheist.ie, an online community which had been set up by Seamus Murnane in June 2006. Its current chairperson is writer and activist Michael Nugent. Atheist Ireland is a member of the Atheist Alliance International. The group claims to have about 500 members
Ireland has a long history of religiosity and religious conflict between its mainly Catholic and Protestant communities (a conflict which was based primarily on political reasons). The religious conflict between these two groups in Ireland is now almost non-existent.
In Ireland, the Roman Catholic Church retains an influence in public funded state services such as the provision of education and health care. Atheist Ireland oppose this influence.
The website atheist.ie, was set up in 2006 by Seamus “Catherder” Murnane. By the end of 2006 the website had over 50 members, over 500 by the end of 2007, and more than 1,000 by the end of 2008. During 2008 some members started to meet socially. In October 2008, three members ("planewaves", "dickspicer" and "FXR") independently suggested founding an atheist campaign group.
Seamus Murnane emailed all members about the idea and the response was overwhelmingly positive. "Boreas" started a discussion about what the aims of the organisation would be, and "lampshade" collated the results. Murnane arranged committee volunteers, while "CTR" scheduled the inaugural meeting of the group and “FXR” booked a hotel room for it. Murnane arranged the agenda and roles for the day. Michael Nugent drafted a constitution. Over 100 members voted on the group’s name.
Atheist Ireland was founded at a meeting in the Central Hotel in Dublin on 30 November 2008. Its aims were to promote atheism, reason and secularism. The meeting elected the following as officers (atheist.ie usernames in brackets): Chairperson – Michael Nugent ("MichaelNugent"), Secretary – Colin Jennings ("Colin"), Finance Officer – William Hanly, Membership Officer – Frank Robinson ("FXR"), Communications Officer – Paul Lavin ("IrishKnight"), Public Events Officer – William Quill ("whig"), and Regional Officer – Grania Spingies ("Ygern"). After a week Robinson resigned, citing a lack of time and ability, and asking people to support the committee. He was replaced by Seamus Murnane ("Catherder").
Not long after its formation, members of the Atheist.ie community were featured prominently on radio station Clare FM to discuss the role of atheism in Irish culture.
In light of amendments to Ireland's Defamation Act proposed by Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, including changes which rendered the crime of blasphemous libel prosecutable for a fine of up to €100,000 (US$135,000). This was later reduced to €25,000 (US$33,700), Atheist Ireland launched a campaign of opposition to the concept of the law. The group received support from author and scientist Richard Dawkins, politician Ivana Bacik, and writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, among others.
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