A Muslim asylum seeker in Ireland has been denied an award for his volunteer work after asking organizers that he not shake the hand of the woman presenting the award. Instead, the judges at the National Consultive Committee on Racism and Inter-culturalism decided that someone else should receive the award. The man, Alinoor Ahmed Sheikh,…
According to a poll conducted by the Irish Times and TNS, almost half of people feel that the wearing of the hijab or headscarf by Muslim students should be allowed in state schools. 48% agreed that the garment should be permitted, 39% disagreed, and 13% indicated that they had no opinion. A breakdown of the…
Two main Irish opposition parties said that Muslim girls should not be allowed to wear a headscarf in public schools. Labour party’s Ruairi Quinn stated that immigrants should conform to the culture, and Fine Gael counterpart Brian Hayes said that it makes sense to have one uniform for everyone, citing that the hijab was not…
A first-of-a-kind faith school will be launched in Ireland under the patronage of Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders to accommodate pupils from the three religions under the same roof. “Instead of having one patron, the school will have tripartite patronage,” said Mary Shine Thompson, chairperson of the Intercultural Interdenominational Primary School (IIPS). Enrolment in the…
Islam is now Ireland’s third largest religion after a 70 percent surge in the number of Muslims in the country between 2002 and 2006, according to official data released Thursday. For decades Ireland was a country of emigration but the 2006 Census showed a surge in immigration in a decade of the so-called Celtic Tiger…
