A voice from Atheist Ireland. ”When you think of the Republic of Ireland, you probably think of a nation of pious Catholics. The guest on FFRF’s “Freethought Matters” TV show this week will then surprise you about the growing secularism in the Emerald Isle. Michael Nugent is a writer of both serious and comedy material who lives in Dublin. He’s a founder and chairperson of the advocacy group Atheist Ireland, which promotes atheism, reason and ethical secularism in Ireland and around the world. Nugent’s motto is: “You have rights — your beliefs do not.”

“We’re now at a stage where what used to be a Catholic country is now effectively a pluralist country,” Nugent explains the paradox of his native nation to “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. “But still, Catholic law that was put in place when the Catholic Church did have control over the population makes the Constitution a very Catholic one. That’s part of the reason for the delays in changing things: We have to kind of grudgingly have a series of referendums to enable the laws to become more secular.”
[ffrf.org]