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I think you will find that there was religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants long before the creation of Northern Ireland, both North and South of the country. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Munsterdevil ( talk • contribs) 22:02, 5 April 2009 (UTC)
This reads Ireland has a long history of religiosity and religious conflict between its mainly Roman Catholic and Protestant communities (it should be said, however that this conflict is due to more political than religious reasons), though the religious conflict between these two groups in the Republic of Ireland is now almost non-existent, tensions in Northern Ireland unfortunately remain. According to the most recent census conducted by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO) in 2006, 95.5% of people in Ireland adhere to a stated religious belief.[3]. For this paragraph there is only one source provided and it merely gives the number of people with a stated religious belief, not how they were subdivided, let alone address the issues of history and conflict. The section breaches MOS:OPED and needs to be rewriten or removed. Autarch ( talk) 18:47, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
The Defamation Bill 2006 was being actively developed before coming to fruition in 2009 subsequently being renamed The Defamation Bill 2009. The bill was the brainchild of Irish Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan originally however a shuffle in the cabinet meant Dermot Ahern would later inherit the responsibility of being the bills steward. It was signed on the 9/7/09 with a stipulation that it would come in to effect on the 1/1/10. The law defines blasphemy person as a person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €25,000. He or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion. [1] Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
The justification for re-defining the law now that has been the Irish constitution since 1937 [2] was "A spokesman for Mr Ahern maintained that under the Constitution the Minister must have a crime of blasphemy on the statute books. 'The Minister’s hands are tied in this,' said the spokesman." [3]l Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
In response Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland spoke out publicly against the bill. He argued the proposed change was "silly and dangerous" and "incentivises outrage" . [4] [5] Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Atheist Ireland in response to the proposed law published 25 quotations from popular culture, the quotes were attributed to a wide range of sources including senior Irish politicians, highly popular artists and authors, Jesus Christ and Muhammed. The goal was to demonstrate the laws ineffectiveness legally as well as its intention to protect religious belief as "the legislation is so ambiguous that it’s impossible to tell how it will be interpreted by the authorities. If they attempt to prosecute us [Atheist Ireland], we will take a constitutional challenge to the courts. ”. [6]
"The proposed law does not protect religious belief; it incentivises outrage and it criminalises free speech. Under this proposed law, if a person expresses one belief about gods, and other people think that this insults a different belief about gods, then these people can become outraged, and this outrage can make it illegal for the first person to express his or her beliefs." [7] Deverell ( talk) 19:59, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
The publication received a lot of international attention to the law. [8] [9] [10] [11] Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Shortly afterwards Pakistan began to adopt the wording of the Irish definition of blasphemy in a submission to the UN. "the uttering of matters that are grossly abusinve or insulting in relation to matter held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage to a substantial number of adherents to that religion." [12] Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Three months later from the introduction of the law Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern proposed a referendum for for the removal for the requirement in the Irish constitution in the Autumn of 2010. This move was supported by Atheist Ireland. [13] [14]He stated in defense of his law that “I was only doing my duty” in bringing in the new blasphemy law, and that “there was an incredibly sophisticated campaign [against me], mainly on the internet.” [15] Deverell ( talk) 20:00, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Atheist Ireland Ireland member Paul Gill in protest of the blasphemy law walked the length of Ireland i.e. from Mizen head to Malin head, to bring attention to the issue and encourage people to vote "yes". The walk began on the 6/5/10 (International Day of Reason) and finished 31/5/10 taking him his goal of 25 days to achieve. [16] Deverell ( talk) 20:00, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
In its current form the Irish Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann) stipulates many preferences for a theism over atheism but more specifically for Christian religions over other religions. Througout the document there are references to God, religious offenses and the Holy Trinity; some act as barriers to public offices and other references restrict the documents protection of non-Christians.
Atheist Ireland wishes for a referendum(s) that remove these references to the constitution. [20]
[21] Deverell ( talk) 21:29, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
There is approximately 3,300 primary schools in Ireland. [22] The vast majority (92%) are under the patronage of the Catholic Church who state Catholic schools seek to reflect a distinctive vision of life and a corresponding philosophy of education, based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [23] and that Religious education, prayer and worship form an essential part of the curriculum, functioning at its core. Such learning is founded on faith and inspired by wonder at the transcendent mystery of God revealed in the complex beauty of the universe. [24] Deverell ( talk) 18:50, 10 June 2010 (UTC)
A small minority (1.2%) are under either multi or inter denominational schooling under the patronage of Educate Together. The remainder of the schools are stewarded by other minority religions. [25] Deverell ( talk) 22:35, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
This system contrasts to Irelands agreement to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights in which a UN Human Rights Committee drew attention to the Irish Government not upholding: Freedom from Discrimination (Article 2 of the Covenant); Freedom of Conscience (Article 18); the Rights of the Child (Article 24); and Equality before the law (Article 26). [26] [27] Deverell ( talk) 22:35, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Michael Nugent makes a distinction between a secular education and an atheist education and says that Atheist Ireland is simply pushing for secular reform and not the introduction of atheist education. [28] Deverell ( talk) 22:35, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
References
Atheist Ireland is often seen as controversial we should reference press articles and published letters that critique the organizations efforts and doctrines. Deverell ( talk) 15:04, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Here are some points made against Atheist Ireland. Unfortunately I only found one valid criticism - Brenda O'Briens comment that Atheist Ireland should have teamed up with others against the blasphemy law. The rest are mostly either ad hominems or non-sequitars by confusing Atheist Ireland with atheists.
1. David Quinn (Catholic apologist and head of the Iona Institute) states Atheist Ireland is anti-religious motivated by hatred and disdain of religion. He cites something happening in Canada; and the French Revolution who were atheists killing in the name of reason. It's still worth a discussion.
[1]
Deverell (
talk)
15:31, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
2. John Waters (IT religious/social columnist) criticizes AI's motto claiming that it doesn't reference anywhere that ethical secularism works. He also states
"Atheist Ireland also seeks to remove the influence of Catholicism/Christianity from education, to prevent Irish children, as Nugent put it, “being told these fantastic tales before they reach the age of reason”. I felt I was at a meeting of coeliacs campaigning to have all gluten-containing products removed from the shelves."
He also cites several instances of how members of the organization aren't funny. [2] Deverell ( talk) 17:36, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
3. Debate between John Waters and Cormac Flynn of CountMeOut on "The Tom McGurk Show" (mp3)
Broadcast July 15th 2009, 4fm.
[3]
John Waters describes the people in Atheist Ireland as dull and boring. [4] Deverell ( talk 17:50, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
4. Brenda O'Brien thinks Atheist Ireland requires a leap of faith in it's ideology.
[5]
Deverell (
talk)
18:13, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
5. Brenda O'Brien states Atheist Ireland didn't take the opportunity to team up with secularists, theists and agnostics who were against the blasphemy law. She doesn't criticize the 25 blasphemous quotes but does criticize the comments following the published quotations.
[6]
Deverell (
talk)
18:18, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
References
The first paragraph at the top of the page is a distortion of the facts. By all the normal measures and standards I, as a registered user of atheist.ie founded Atheist Ireland. The opening paragraph should read "founded by FXR, a registered user of the atheist.ie website". There was no organisation in existence to which one could belong as a member. The founding thread and the thread announcing the booking of the hotel room by me are recorded here: http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=34&start=250 (copies of these pages have been archived to protect them) Funkyderek is a member of Atheist Ireland who was not present or involved at the time. His first post on the website was almost a year after the first meeting (Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:02 pm). http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB3/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&author=funkyderek&start=270
I'd like the page changed to reflect the facts. I have links that demonstrate the build up and record the first face to face meetings of atheist's in Ireland. I organised them: I have links to the pages and an archived record of each.
Note also: Nugent was elected at the first meeting by people who could not have been members at that time. I have a complete video of the first meeting which I can make available. He was not elected as chairman by a paid registered Atheist Ireland membership (as opposed to registered users of the website) until almost eight months later. The first AGM did not take place until July 2009 http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=2404&p=24499&hilit=agm#p24499 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fexro ( talk • contribs) 14:13, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
Funkyderek's inability to understand hardly need to be stated. The organisation came about as a result of two threads both of which I posted. It was the first thread that brought into being the idea of an atheist association in Ireland. There is no record available of the people who were in the room. There is no record available that indicated how many of those present later joined the organisation or how many simply turned up, voted and left. Present were members of the Humanist Association of Ireland, including the then chairman Dick Spicer, a friend of Michael Nugent, who voted him into becoming chairman. Michael Nugent is a member of the HAI. He was not elected chairman by an Atheist Ireland paid registered membership until eight months after the first meeting. That's a fact. I resigned after a meeting that took place one week later in the Royal Dublin Hotel on the 6th December. Publishing the minutes of that meeting might help to fill in some more of the history and make the account more comprehensive.
As regards the founding of Atheist Ireland there is a thread that is now located in the section Feedback About Atheist Ireland there is this post dated Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:57 pm posted by Michael Nugent;
Can I add to this, on behalf of the commitee, that we would like to thank Frank for his role in the setting up of Atheist Ireland.
He started the process with a post on this forum which prompted Frank to reserve a room in the Central Hotel where Atheist Ireland was subsequently founded, and he was an important contributor to the online discussions that led to the organisation being established last week.
At our first committee meeting, we arranged the roles and responsibilities of each officer. Frank decided not to continue as membership officer, because the time requirements clash with other activities that he is already committed to. Frank will still be a member of Atheist Ireland and will continue to be a valued contributor to the site.
The committee has co-opted Seamus Murnane (CatHerder) as our new membership officer until the first AGM.
It was followed by this post by Seamus "Catherder" Murnane posted 2 minutes later on Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:59 pm
I would also like to thank Frank personally for his contribution to the growth of the atheist.ie forum by his contributions to discussions in over 2500 posts, arranging and promoting the first real-life get-togethers, such as the Darwin Day Dinner, purchasing and donating tickets to the Hitchens/Waters debate in the Gate Theatre, instigating and encouraging email campaigns and his regular recruiting of potential members on other sites and welcoming of new subscribers to atheist.ie.
Funkyderek/Derek is only succeeding in demonstrating that an atheist organisation can produce fanatical cultish [1] behaviour in it's followers just as much as any religious sect. The organisation should be the subject of an additional section on cult like behaviour among the membership. The constant attempts to distract from the facts are as much to cover up the fact that the founding of the organisation has been the subject of false claims and misreporting. This is an organisation more concerned with massaging it's self image than anything that atheism might be said to be founded on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fexro ( talk • contribs) 21:27, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
I'm going to rewrite the section since you don't seem to have any great talent for research Derek (assuming you wrote the whole thing). Firstly if you had researched the situation properly you'd be in possession of the minutes of the meeting that took place in the Royal Dublin Hotel on December 6 2008. You've also rewritten it to cover up the fact that any reference to real life meetings omits the fact of who actually organised those meetings. That's quite cultish behaviour to say the least.
If you are in possession of the Dec 6 minutes then I'm sure you won't mind posting them so people will have a better insight into the kind of organisation Atheist Ireland really is. After all you're a dedicated atheist who believes in pursuing the truth and all the other pseudo pretensions AI dresses itself in.
You'd should have discovered that the first mention of forming an atheist organisation was when I posted in the private section which was well before the clumsy attempts by Spicer to get involved. Of course if your "research" is limited to asking people who'd rather you didn't know the full facts you're hardly likely to get at the truth. You might explain how you managed to get so mixed up as to claim a user named "plainwaves" had any bearing on the formation of Atheist Ireland. "Plainwaves" only joined the site on October 16 2008 and stopped posting 13 days later on October 29, 2008. There is also a mention of "Lampshade" but no mention of the fact she was a member of the Humanist Association of Ireland. Neither is there any attempt to count the number of people involved with the HAI who voted for Mr. Nugent at the first meeting, one of whom was Mr. Spicer, a friend of your chairman who'd he (Mr. Spicer) had been pushing as chairman. You might also fill out the article by mentioning that there have never been any other candidates for chairman in the entire history of AI. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fexro ( talk • contribs) 15:31, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
References
This section describes three goals, the first of which has been achieved - the removal of the law against blasphemy by the Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland. It might be amended to mention that this has been done, with a very brief history from the Defamation Act 2009, through the Constitutional Convention to the amendment. Autarch ( talk) 17:32, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
Looking at the article I've noticed:
Autarch ( talk) 17:43, 29 January 2024 (UTC) A couple more issues:
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Atheist Ireland article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Archives: 1 |
![]() | This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
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|
I think you will find that there was religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants long before the creation of Northern Ireland, both North and South of the country. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Munsterdevil ( talk • contribs) 22:02, 5 April 2009 (UTC)
This reads Ireland has a long history of religiosity and religious conflict between its mainly Roman Catholic and Protestant communities (it should be said, however that this conflict is due to more political than religious reasons), though the religious conflict between these two groups in the Republic of Ireland is now almost non-existent, tensions in Northern Ireland unfortunately remain. According to the most recent census conducted by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO) in 2006, 95.5% of people in Ireland adhere to a stated religious belief.[3]. For this paragraph there is only one source provided and it merely gives the number of people with a stated religious belief, not how they were subdivided, let alone address the issues of history and conflict. The section breaches MOS:OPED and needs to be rewriten or removed. Autarch ( talk) 18:47, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
The Defamation Bill 2006 was being actively developed before coming to fruition in 2009 subsequently being renamed The Defamation Bill 2009. The bill was the brainchild of Irish Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan originally however a shuffle in the cabinet meant Dermot Ahern would later inherit the responsibility of being the bills steward. It was signed on the 9/7/09 with a stipulation that it would come in to effect on the 1/1/10. The law defines blasphemy person as a person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €25,000. He or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion. [1] Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
The justification for re-defining the law now that has been the Irish constitution since 1937 [2] was "A spokesman for Mr Ahern maintained that under the Constitution the Minister must have a crime of blasphemy on the statute books. 'The Minister’s hands are tied in this,' said the spokesman." [3]l Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
In response Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland spoke out publicly against the bill. He argued the proposed change was "silly and dangerous" and "incentivises outrage" . [4] [5] Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Atheist Ireland in response to the proposed law published 25 quotations from popular culture, the quotes were attributed to a wide range of sources including senior Irish politicians, highly popular artists and authors, Jesus Christ and Muhammed. The goal was to demonstrate the laws ineffectiveness legally as well as its intention to protect religious belief as "the legislation is so ambiguous that it’s impossible to tell how it will be interpreted by the authorities. If they attempt to prosecute us [Atheist Ireland], we will take a constitutional challenge to the courts. ”. [6]
"The proposed law does not protect religious belief; it incentivises outrage and it criminalises free speech. Under this proposed law, if a person expresses one belief about gods, and other people think that this insults a different belief about gods, then these people can become outraged, and this outrage can make it illegal for the first person to express his or her beliefs." [7] Deverell ( talk) 19:59, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
The publication received a lot of international attention to the law. [8] [9] [10] [11] Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Shortly afterwards Pakistan began to adopt the wording of the Irish definition of blasphemy in a submission to the UN. "the uttering of matters that are grossly abusinve or insulting in relation to matter held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage to a substantial number of adherents to that religion." [12] Deverell ( talk) 19:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Three months later from the introduction of the law Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern proposed a referendum for for the removal for the requirement in the Irish constitution in the Autumn of 2010. This move was supported by Atheist Ireland. [13] [14]He stated in defense of his law that “I was only doing my duty” in bringing in the new blasphemy law, and that “there was an incredibly sophisticated campaign [against me], mainly on the internet.” [15] Deverell ( talk) 20:00, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Atheist Ireland Ireland member Paul Gill in protest of the blasphemy law walked the length of Ireland i.e. from Mizen head to Malin head, to bring attention to the issue and encourage people to vote "yes". The walk began on the 6/5/10 (International Day of Reason) and finished 31/5/10 taking him his goal of 25 days to achieve. [16] Deverell ( talk) 20:00, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
In its current form the Irish Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann) stipulates many preferences for a theism over atheism but more specifically for Christian religions over other religions. Througout the document there are references to God, religious offenses and the Holy Trinity; some act as barriers to public offices and other references restrict the documents protection of non-Christians.
Atheist Ireland wishes for a referendum(s) that remove these references to the constitution. [20]
[21] Deverell ( talk) 21:29, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
There is approximately 3,300 primary schools in Ireland. [22] The vast majority (92%) are under the patronage of the Catholic Church who state Catholic schools seek to reflect a distinctive vision of life and a corresponding philosophy of education, based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [23] and that Religious education, prayer and worship form an essential part of the curriculum, functioning at its core. Such learning is founded on faith and inspired by wonder at the transcendent mystery of God revealed in the complex beauty of the universe. [24] Deverell ( talk) 18:50, 10 June 2010 (UTC)
A small minority (1.2%) are under either multi or inter denominational schooling under the patronage of Educate Together. The remainder of the schools are stewarded by other minority religions. [25] Deverell ( talk) 22:35, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
This system contrasts to Irelands agreement to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights in which a UN Human Rights Committee drew attention to the Irish Government not upholding: Freedom from Discrimination (Article 2 of the Covenant); Freedom of Conscience (Article 18); the Rights of the Child (Article 24); and Equality before the law (Article 26). [26] [27] Deverell ( talk) 22:35, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Michael Nugent makes a distinction between a secular education and an atheist education and says that Atheist Ireland is simply pushing for secular reform and not the introduction of atheist education. [28] Deverell ( talk) 22:35, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
References
Atheist Ireland is often seen as controversial we should reference press articles and published letters that critique the organizations efforts and doctrines. Deverell ( talk) 15:04, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
Here are some points made against Atheist Ireland. Unfortunately I only found one valid criticism - Brenda O'Briens comment that Atheist Ireland should have teamed up with others against the blasphemy law. The rest are mostly either ad hominems or non-sequitars by confusing Atheist Ireland with atheists.
1. David Quinn (Catholic apologist and head of the Iona Institute) states Atheist Ireland is anti-religious motivated by hatred and disdain of religion. He cites something happening in Canada; and the French Revolution who were atheists killing in the name of reason. It's still worth a discussion.
[1]
Deverell (
talk)
15:31, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
2. John Waters (IT religious/social columnist) criticizes AI's motto claiming that it doesn't reference anywhere that ethical secularism works. He also states
"Atheist Ireland also seeks to remove the influence of Catholicism/Christianity from education, to prevent Irish children, as Nugent put it, “being told these fantastic tales before they reach the age of reason”. I felt I was at a meeting of coeliacs campaigning to have all gluten-containing products removed from the shelves."
He also cites several instances of how members of the organization aren't funny. [2] Deverell ( talk) 17:36, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
3. Debate between John Waters and Cormac Flynn of CountMeOut on "The Tom McGurk Show" (mp3)
Broadcast July 15th 2009, 4fm.
[3]
John Waters describes the people in Atheist Ireland as dull and boring. [4] Deverell ( talk 17:50, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
4. Brenda O'Brien thinks Atheist Ireland requires a leap of faith in it's ideology.
[5]
Deverell (
talk)
18:13, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
5. Brenda O'Brien states Atheist Ireland didn't take the opportunity to team up with secularists, theists and agnostics who were against the blasphemy law. She doesn't criticize the 25 blasphemous quotes but does criticize the comments following the published quotations.
[6]
Deverell (
talk)
18:18, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
References
The first paragraph at the top of the page is a distortion of the facts. By all the normal measures and standards I, as a registered user of atheist.ie founded Atheist Ireland. The opening paragraph should read "founded by FXR, a registered user of the atheist.ie website". There was no organisation in existence to which one could belong as a member. The founding thread and the thread announcing the booking of the hotel room by me are recorded here: http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=34&start=250 (copies of these pages have been archived to protect them) Funkyderek is a member of Atheist Ireland who was not present or involved at the time. His first post on the website was almost a year after the first meeting (Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:02 pm). http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB3/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&author=funkyderek&start=270
I'd like the page changed to reflect the facts. I have links that demonstrate the build up and record the first face to face meetings of atheist's in Ireland. I organised them: I have links to the pages and an archived record of each.
Note also: Nugent was elected at the first meeting by people who could not have been members at that time. I have a complete video of the first meeting which I can make available. He was not elected as chairman by a paid registered Atheist Ireland membership (as opposed to registered users of the website) until almost eight months later. The first AGM did not take place until July 2009 http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=2404&p=24499&hilit=agm#p24499 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fexro ( talk • contribs) 14:13, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
Funkyderek's inability to understand hardly need to be stated. The organisation came about as a result of two threads both of which I posted. It was the first thread that brought into being the idea of an atheist association in Ireland. There is no record available of the people who were in the room. There is no record available that indicated how many of those present later joined the organisation or how many simply turned up, voted and left. Present were members of the Humanist Association of Ireland, including the then chairman Dick Spicer, a friend of Michael Nugent, who voted him into becoming chairman. Michael Nugent is a member of the HAI. He was not elected chairman by an Atheist Ireland paid registered membership until eight months after the first meeting. That's a fact. I resigned after a meeting that took place one week later in the Royal Dublin Hotel on the 6th December. Publishing the minutes of that meeting might help to fill in some more of the history and make the account more comprehensive.
As regards the founding of Atheist Ireland there is a thread that is now located in the section Feedback About Atheist Ireland there is this post dated Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:57 pm posted by Michael Nugent;
Can I add to this, on behalf of the commitee, that we would like to thank Frank for his role in the setting up of Atheist Ireland.
He started the process with a post on this forum which prompted Frank to reserve a room in the Central Hotel where Atheist Ireland was subsequently founded, and he was an important contributor to the online discussions that led to the organisation being established last week.
At our first committee meeting, we arranged the roles and responsibilities of each officer. Frank decided not to continue as membership officer, because the time requirements clash with other activities that he is already committed to. Frank will still be a member of Atheist Ireland and will continue to be a valued contributor to the site.
The committee has co-opted Seamus Murnane (CatHerder) as our new membership officer until the first AGM.
It was followed by this post by Seamus "Catherder" Murnane posted 2 minutes later on Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:59 pm
I would also like to thank Frank personally for his contribution to the growth of the atheist.ie forum by his contributions to discussions in over 2500 posts, arranging and promoting the first real-life get-togethers, such as the Darwin Day Dinner, purchasing and donating tickets to the Hitchens/Waters debate in the Gate Theatre, instigating and encouraging email campaigns and his regular recruiting of potential members on other sites and welcoming of new subscribers to atheist.ie.
Funkyderek/Derek is only succeeding in demonstrating that an atheist organisation can produce fanatical cultish [1] behaviour in it's followers just as much as any religious sect. The organisation should be the subject of an additional section on cult like behaviour among the membership. The constant attempts to distract from the facts are as much to cover up the fact that the founding of the organisation has been the subject of false claims and misreporting. This is an organisation more concerned with massaging it's self image than anything that atheism might be said to be founded on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fexro ( talk • contribs) 21:27, 17 January 2012 (UTC)
I'm going to rewrite the section since you don't seem to have any great talent for research Derek (assuming you wrote the whole thing). Firstly if you had researched the situation properly you'd be in possession of the minutes of the meeting that took place in the Royal Dublin Hotel on December 6 2008. You've also rewritten it to cover up the fact that any reference to real life meetings omits the fact of who actually organised those meetings. That's quite cultish behaviour to say the least.
If you are in possession of the Dec 6 minutes then I'm sure you won't mind posting them so people will have a better insight into the kind of organisation Atheist Ireland really is. After all you're a dedicated atheist who believes in pursuing the truth and all the other pseudo pretensions AI dresses itself in.
You'd should have discovered that the first mention of forming an atheist organisation was when I posted in the private section which was well before the clumsy attempts by Spicer to get involved. Of course if your "research" is limited to asking people who'd rather you didn't know the full facts you're hardly likely to get at the truth. You might explain how you managed to get so mixed up as to claim a user named "plainwaves" had any bearing on the formation of Atheist Ireland. "Plainwaves" only joined the site on October 16 2008 and stopped posting 13 days later on October 29, 2008. There is also a mention of "Lampshade" but no mention of the fact she was a member of the Humanist Association of Ireland. Neither is there any attempt to count the number of people involved with the HAI who voted for Mr. Nugent at the first meeting, one of whom was Mr. Spicer, a friend of your chairman who'd he (Mr. Spicer) had been pushing as chairman. You might also fill out the article by mentioning that there have never been any other candidates for chairman in the entire history of AI. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fexro ( talk • contribs) 15:31, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
References
This section describes three goals, the first of which has been achieved - the removal of the law against blasphemy by the Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland. It might be amended to mention that this has been done, with a very brief history from the Defamation Act 2009, through the Constitutional Convention to the amendment. Autarch ( talk) 17:32, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
Looking at the article I've noticed:
Autarch ( talk) 17:43, 29 January 2024 (UTC) A couple more issues: