I have no words. Actually I have many words. I'll share them when I calm down. I know in the future people will look back on this in the same way we look back at the 1960s when a number of politicians defended corporal punishment in schools. extra.ie/2025/04/29/news/iri…

Spread the word to your local politician looking for a vote. Let @edu_equal know their stance on faith in schools. Tell them to check their email and reply! With thousands of families now interested in this area, the results are being shown on election.educationequality.i…

For whatever reason there are a number of journalists writing about letting their kids "make their Communion" even though they don't believe in a god. They probably don't see how this might influence others to do the same. Here's my response: simonmlewis.medium.com/why-y…

If you have a child opted out in your class, or if you don't have a child opted out in your class, I'd recommend attending this launch and getting your hands on this excellent book

"I don't believe it's hard to opt out anymore." I can't emphasise how deflating it is to hear this. As one of thousands of families who is/was directly impacted by the almost-monopoly of Catholic control on education, where, as a teacher in an otherwise lovely school, I had no way of opting out of teaching messages, that go against my conscience, as truth; where, as a parent, I had to campaign for 3 years so *one* school in the entire county I live in could open to provide an education free from forcing my child to sit at the back of classrooms for hours a week; where, as a member of a wonderful organisation, @edu_equal, I have to read horror story after horror story of parents around the country, every single day, who have to navigate a system because schools don't have any resources to make opting out anything near easy; it is a kick in the stomach when a flippant remark like this is said by someone with influence. I'm not naive enough to think that this clip, of all clips, was accidentally chosen. I know it is designed to enrage and I know I am taking the (click)bait. However, I also know that it's comments like this that keeps the system going as if there's nothing to see here. I also find it dispiriting to hear Maïa describe the feedback she received when she announced despite not believing in a god she was going to decide to go through the Communion as "backlash." As I remember it, for a platform like this, people were not mean. In the main, they gave lived experiences of opting out and how it impacted their own lives, and how they all got through it. There seemed to be a genuine feeling that someone so centred on science and logic feeling they had to go through something against their conscience could hear that it didn't have to be that way. However, I understand that people make difficult to decisions and I'm sure sitting in a church and feeling hypocritical is not a nice position to be in. I know the pressures both internally and externally that go into it. While I wish people weren't in a position where they have to make a choice between their own beliefs and the beliefs of the school they send their child to, I get that this decision is tough and not everyone has a fight in them. But to say "I don't believe it's hard to opt out anymore" is simply not true and is an affront to the teachers trapped in a don't ask, don't tell system, and to parents that have no choice but to send their child to the backs of classrooms every day, knowing that by doing that, their kids are not fully part of their school community. There is nothing harder than doing that to your child. I don't expect anything positive to come from this post. I'm nobody so the best I can hope for is that someone might read it and it might sit with them. All I can do is "reinflate" myself and continue to campaign for the rights of families who are trying to navigate the huge difficulties that the education system puts on them. I will keep pushing for a separation of church and State in education, and fight for a system which respects everybody - those with a faith and those without.

1/19 A good article charting 3 teachers discussing their discomfort about passing on a faith they don't believe to children, many of whom don't believe either. There are some key points made: irishtimes.com/ireland/educa…

It's not just the Minister who is into soundbites and distraction. As lovely as "rent not religion" rolls off the tongue, the CPSMA's letter is, at best, a half-hearted attempt to try and get people to look the other way. Great letter from Rob though! irishtimes.com/opinion/lette…

A favour: Read this article and tell me what word sticks out the most in it for you. Please pick a single word that is in the article that made you feel a certain way, either positive or negative. I'll tell you the word that stuck for me. independent.ie/opinion/comme…

I really enjoyed this chat with @pjcoogan where I discussed the choice of schools in Ireland and what I would do if I were the minister for education. Would love to hear your thoughts. I feel I'm getting closer to a solution.