Today is a special day for Humanists around Ireland. Not only is it World Humanist Day, it also happens to be the 20th anniversary of the Humanist Association of Ireland (HAI).
It is a national organisation that promotes the values of Humanism, working for people who choose to live an ethical life without religion and has been open to anyone from atheists, agnostics and freethinkers to rationalists, secularists and sceptics.
Earlier this year, the HAI was bestowed with an important honour from the Irish government, when it was given the right to conduct legal marriage ceremonies.
That was a key step as previously those who wished to have a humanist wedding also had to have a legal wedding.
In 2012 there were almost 200 humanist ceremonies which were not legally binding while 100 more were performed this year. And with legal ceremonies on the horizon, the HAI had also had 600 more applications by the end of March as interest overflowed.
But there has been a hitch as last month news emerged that accrediting humanist marriage celebrants has been a slow process, with the General Registrar's Office (part of the Department of Social Protection) delaying the process as it had concerns about people profiting from solemnising.
Recognition
The HAI's Director of Ceremonies Brian Whiteside is the only legal Humanist celebrant in Ireland and yesterday he confirmed that there had been no progress on the issue.Whiteside, who was conducting a ceremony yesterday, said: "There has been no substantial progess but we are hoping that everything goes to plan."
It was a message echoed by the HAI's Chairperson Ann James who confirmed that they are still working on the issue. Although the HAI did not celebrate World Humanist Day this year like in previous years, she accentuated the positives, stating that the legal recognition is a huge step forward.
"It is a huge show of respect for us and other like-minded people who look at the world in a different way to religious people, but with an ethical standpoint," she said.
It is all the more important given the rising number of people in Ireland who claim non-religious status but may have been compelled to take part in religious ceremonies for ease of access.
In the last census, over 250,000 claimed to have no religion, while a further 68,668 did not a divulge whether they were religious or non-religious.
However over 3.8 million people out of Ireland's 4.5 million population claimed to be adherents of the Catholic Church, even though church attendance has been plummetting.
Only 18 per cent of respondents in the last census were regular churchgoers.
That disconnect between those who claim to be nominally Catholic and those who are active churchgoers may be an issue at the next census, now that non-religious forms of marriage have been given a legal footing.
The HAI has encouraged people who are only religious on census papers to be open about their views in the 2016 census to give a truer picture of Irish society.
One does not need to become a member of the Humanist Association to avail of humanist weddings, but Ann James says that they leave the door open for those interested in its ideals: "We do like to be attractive so that people who wish to lead an ethical, non-religious life know we are there. We are offering an alternative and even as a religious person you don't feel excluded when you go to a humanist wedding ceremony."