Atheist Ireland

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The Irish Atheists (also referred to as simply atheist.ie) is an online community of atheists, agnostics, freethinkers and skeptics based in The Republic of Ireland. Founded by Seamus Murnane in June, 2006, the website features a lively web forum, an online atheist book shop and video library and a facility for members to publish articles on subjects that might be of interest to members.

Background

Ireland has a long history of religiosity and religious conflict between its mainly Protestant and Roman Catholic communities. As a result, the Republic of Ireland today is one of the most religious countries in Europe. 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.

Against this background it is extremely difficult for the growing numbers of Irish atheists and agnostics (up 59% since 2002) to identify each other, or to achieve any kind of public recognition. Atheist.ie, the website of The Irish Atheists, has served as a focal point for atheists and agnostics in Ireland, to come together, to share their experiences of growing up in an overtly religious society, and to share ideas.

Registration of catholic.ie domain

On February 29, 2008, The Irish Atheists registered the domain name catholic.ie (which had not been previously registered and was freely available). Linked to the site's only page was a humorous video produced by British comedian Adam Buxton entitled "A New Pope". The film uses Star Wars references, digital editing and a comedic voice over to parody actual footage of the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI.

Amid allegations that The Irish Atheists had hacked an officially registered Catholic website, news of the coup quickly gained global attention from non-religious websites and blogs from as far afield as the USA, Australia and right across Europe. These included the official website of prominent British biologist, writer and atheist Richard Dawkins, and the popular science blog Pharyngula.

In fact, the site had not been hacked at all, but had been legitimately registered in accordance with Irish Domain Registry (IEDR) practice. In response to a complaint by a member of a Christian web forum, the IEDR responded by saying: "IEDR policies were adhered to with regards the application of this domain name under the category of an unincorporated association."

In the news

Not long after its formation, members of the group were featured prominently on radio station Clare FM to discuss the role of atheism in Irish culture.

In January 2008, The Irish Atheists were contacted by Irish national television broadcaster TV3, with a view to being invited to contribute to their morning magazine programme Ireland AM. The main focus of the segment in question was the launch of a book by Irish columnist John Waters called: Lapsed Agnostic. In the event TV3 decided not to include a contribution from The Irish Atheists, or any other atheist/agnostic group during the programme.

Irish Atheist Association

A poll on the website forum suggested the formation of an association for Irish atheists. A public meeting was convened and held on the 30th of November 2008 at the Central Hotel in Dublin with attendance of 40 people which after discussions agreed a name (Atheist Ireland),a mission statement, aims, and committee members.