Northern Ireland Humanists: About

Northern Ireland Humanists is the section of Humanists UK, working with the Humanist Association of Ireland, which furthers the humanist cause in Northern Ireland through a wide range of campaigning and community services activities. We’ve been active in Northern Ireland for decades, but in 2016, we came together under the name ‘Northern Ireland Humanists’ to join together our members, supporters, campaigners, and activists to help put humanism into practice and to bring about a secular, inclusive society to promote free thinking and freedom of choice for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Our aim is to champion ideas for the one life we have while expanding the availability of our ceremonies, education, and pastoral support to ensure that non-religious people can live happy, fulfilled, confident lives.

Since coming together as Northern Ireland Humanists in 2016, we’ve established ourselves as one of Northern Ireland’s leading human rights organisations, and we’ve undertaken a great deal of work to bring about a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevails.

A humanist is someone who:

  • trusts to the scientific method when it comes to understanding how the universe works and rejects the idea of the supernatural (and is therefore an atheist or agnostic)
  • makes their ethical decisions based on reason, empathy, and a concern for human beings and other sentient animals
  • believes that, in the absence of an afterlife and any discernible purpose to the universe, human beings can act to give their own lives meaning by seeking happiness in this life and helping others to do the same


We campaign at the national level to pursue a more equal treatment of the non-religious and ethical, evidence-based policies across a range of equalities, human rights, and secularist issues.