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March 4th, 2021 An exemption to equality law allowing schools in Northern Ireland to employ teachers on religious grounds is ‘perverse’, ‘archaic’, and unfair, members of the Stormont’s Education Committee said yesterday. Northern Ireland Humanists – which campaigns for equal treatment of teachers regardless of religious background – welcomed the comments and said they show it is high time for the exemption to be scrapped. The MLAs’ remarks were made during a presentation of evidence to the Committee about teacher exemption to the Fair Employment and Treatment Order (FETO) by ...

Growing community urging those who are not religious to say so on the next census

February 1st, 2021 A new report shows that many, perhaps most, parents who wish to send their children to an integrated school in Northern Ireland are currently unable to do so. Northern Ireland Humanists has said this urgently demonstrates the need to desegregate the outdated school system. Research from Ulster University’s Transforming Education project says that 28% of households ‘are located in areas of Northern Ireland where access to integrated primary schools is limited and a similar percentage (26%) are remote from integrated post-primaries’. What’s more, even in areas where t...

December 18th, 2020 Governments across the UK should repeal compulsory collective worship, children’s rights bodies from all four nations have told the United Nations. Humanists UK, Wales Humanists, and Northern Ireland Humanists all contributed evidence to national reports compiled by key children’s rights bodies in each country, with partner organisation Humanist Society Scotland contributing to a similar report in Scotland. The reports will now be used to shape the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s review of the UK’s children’s rights record. Collective worship With this ...

December 11th, 2020 The Northern Ireland Department of Health has proposed introducing an opt-out system for organ donation, where a person is presumed to have consented to donate their organs after death unless they have specifically opted out. Northern Ireland Humanists has welcomed the move, and has called on the public to support the plans. Moving to an opt-out, rather than opt-in, system of organ donation has been shown to increase the number of organs available for transplant and willingness of the population to donate, saving lives. Northern Ireland is currently the only part of the UK...