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Education Equality is a parent-led, voluntary human rights organization. We campaign for equality in the provision of education for all children, regardless of religion. In 2018, we successfully campaigned to remove the “baptism barrier,” ending religious discrimination in school admissions. We continue to advocate for the complete elimination of religious discrimination in state-funded schools.
Welcome to Education Equality.
Children deserve equal treatment at school, regardless of their religion or non-religion. Equal respect for children and their parents’ beliefs demands:
- Schools providing equal access, regardless of religion
- Giving parents the choice about their child’s participation in religious instruction
- Offering a curriculum that respects all religions and none
We adopt a human rights-based approach to end discrimination. Every child has a right to attend State funded primary school education. Every individual has the right to freedom of religion and non-discrimination. These rights are guaranteed by international human rights treaties and the Irish Constitution. The current education system fails to respect these rights.
Education Equality is campaigning for religious faith formation, including sacramental preparation, to be moved to a class outside school hours. This would allow all children to be treated equally and with respect. It would also vindicate the human and constitutional rights of children and teachers.
We are also calling for the discrimination permitted under s37(1) of the Employment Equality Act to be removed. This would enable all teachers to be free to express themselves without compromising their integrity and careers in the process.
Education Equality Started With Two Core Goals
Equal Access
When we founded Education Equality in 2015, we set two clear goals. We largely achieved the first goal, equal access, by removing the 'baptism barrier' in 2018. Our current focus is on achieving equal respect for children, parents, and teachers in schools.
Equal Respect
State-funded schools should confine faith formation to a distinct period, not spread it throughout the school day. They should teach it after core school hours, allowing parents to effectively choose whether their children receive religious instruction.
Who are We?
Alison is a an editor with an interest in public relations and social media communications who has been volunteering with Education Equality since 2016. A long-time believer that the church and State need to operate separately, she and her husband were determined that their daughters would not 'go along to get along' when it came to religious indoctrination at school, despite pressures for a 'pragmatic baptism'. Fortunately, both children attained places at local Educate Together primary and secondary schools, but Alison has remained passionate to offer whatever skills she has to the campaign to end the discrimination faced by the less fortunate children of non-religious parents, who do not have access to multi-denominational education in Irish State-funded schools.
Alison MooreCommunications Officer (social media) 
David is a dad and freelance translator and has been an active education campaigner for many years. He attended the launch of Education Equality in December 2015 and, when the new group looked for a communications officer, happily volunteered his services. He has written many opinion pieces across print and online media and his letters are regularly published in the Irish Times. David believes that religious instruction and worship should be a choice rather than an obligation and is opposed to the coercive evangelisation of children without their parents’ consent. In 2016, he led a successful campaign for Educate Together patronage of a new secondary school serving Malahide/Portmarnock and has served as Chairperson to the Board of Management since this school opened its doors in 2018.
David GrahamCommunications Officer (press) 
Paddy is a dad and barrister. He practised at the bar for some years and now works in-house. In 2015 he created a petition to the Oireachtas Petitions Committee for the repeal of the law that allows over 96% of taxpayer-funded Irish schools to prioritise children in enrolment on the basis of religion. The petition gathered over 20,000 signatures and was lodged with the committee in November 2015.
Paddy has organised several public events and demonstrations promoting equality in education and has appeared on many television and radio programmes. He has written numerous articles on the topic for the Irish Times and the Guardian newspapers. He is genuinely thrilled to be part of Education Equality and to meet so many kindred spirits.
Paddy MonahanPolicy Officer 
Sarah became involved with Education Equality as the mother to a young, unbaptised son who faced the very real prospect that he would not gain access to a national school.
Sarah has an educational background in law and equality and has spent most of her career working in human rights and disability. Sarah has extensive experience in project management, governance, training & development, managing campaigns & communications.
Sarah has been a member of the Education Equality committee for three years and has previously held the positions of Events Officer & Chairperson.
Sarah LennonGovernance Officer 
Rob is a dad and a solicitor. He has long campaigned for an end to the domination of our school system by religious bodies and the systemic discrimination, unwanted indoctrination and segregation faced by children in our publicly-funded schools. He believes that these should have no place in the education system of a modern democratic republic. He has had opinion pieces and letters published in the Irish national newspapers on these subjects. Rob has extensively researched the constitutional right to ‘opt out’ of religious instruction in Irish publicly-funded schools. He became involved with Education Equality in 2017 and was appointed Human Rights Officer in 2020.
Rob SadlierHuman Rights Officer 
Alana is an experienced primary school teacher who has specialized in the study of global cultural and educational systems at Master's level. She is also a mother of three children who walk to their local Catholic school and opt-out of religion. Since 2021, she has served as the Teacher Representative for Education Equality, where she is committed to advocating for teachers by listening to their concerns, providing support and guidance, and representing their voices in the media and in discussions with policymakers and unions.
Alana firmly believes that teachers should not be compelled to indoctrinate children in ways that conflict with their personal beliefs. She is a strong advocate for the removal of Section 37 and the requirement in most schools for teachers to hold the Catholic "Certification in Religious Studies", which has become a 'baptism barrier' for many educators. She is hopeful for change and is dedicated to promoting ideas and creating practical accommodations that would allow teachers and students to learn together in an environment where everyone's conscience was respected and where everyone has an authentic sense of belonging at their school.
Alana WilhelmParent and Teacher Representative 
Aoife, a mother of four from Dublin, has two children attending a local Catholic primary school. She is a qualified solicitor and speaks fluent German. After studying Law and German at Trinity College Dublin, Aoife spent nearly a decade working as a solicitor in Frankfurt and London. Currently, she is a full-time parent and a passionate advocate for secular, inclusive education, a topic she has written about in the Irish Examiner. In her spare time, Aoife enjoys reading and shares book reviews on her Instagram page.
Aoife CassidyCommunications Officer (Social Media) 
Anna is a primary school teacher and parent of two children in West Cork. With 17 years of teaching experience and a M.Ed. in Leadership of Wellbeing in Education, Anna firmly believes that religion is a personal matter for every family and that faith formation should take place outside of the school day. Although Anna has no choice where to send her children, as there are no multi-denominational, English-medium schools in West Cork, Anna maintains that all children should have the right to go to their local school with their friends and neighbours. Both of Anna’s children are “opted out" of religion in school. Many of Anna’s friends don’t want their children to only learn about one religion either but they don’t want their children being the “odd one out”. As an active member of the INTO, Anna is campaigning for the rights of teachers, many of whom have no other choice but to teach in Catholic schools, even if they have no religious beliefs themselves.
Anna HurleyParent and Teacher Representative 
Allison is a mother, experienced business leader and human rights advocate. She lives in West Cork where the only primary school options are Catholic or Church of Ireland ethos. Allison’s daughter is one of five opted out children in a class of 20 students in a local Catholic school.
Allison firmly believes that education and freedom of thought, conscience and religion are fundamental human rights. These rights are not only reserved for adults but are expressly stated as fundamental rights of the child under various conventions and the Irish constitution.
These fundamental rights apply to all individuals and the State has an obligation to respect and protect them.
For these reasons, Allison is a strong advocate of secular, inclusive education and believes it is possible for this to be delivered in a rights respecting environment. She joined Education Equality in 2024 as Children’s Rights Officer.
Allison MartinChildren’s Rights Officer 
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