Irish Skeptics Society
Encyclopedia
The Irish Skeptics Society is a scientific sceptic
Scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism is the practice of questioning the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence or reproducibility, as part of a methodological norm pursuing "the extension of certified knowledge". For example, Robert K...

 organisation based in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. It was launched in 2002 and publishes a newsletter called Skeptical Times.

The organization regularly sponsors lectures on a variety of topics including self-awareness, tolerance and evolution. In 2004 they sponsored a lecture by James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...

. They are a signatory to Sense About Science
Sense About Science
Sense About Science is a British charity that promotes the public understanding of science. Sense About Science was conceived in 2002 by Lord Taverne, Bridget Ogilvie and others to promote respect for scientific evidence and good science. Sense About Science was established as a charitable trust in...

's Keep Libel Laws out of Science campaign.

Spokespersons from the organization such as founding member Paul O'Donoghue (a clinical psychologist) are often quoted on paranormal and pseudoscience topics such as homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...

, magnet therapy
Magnet therapy
Magnet therapy, magnetic therapy, or magnotherapy is an alternative medicine practice involving the use of static magnetic fields. Practitioners claim that subjecting certain parts of the body to magnetostatic fields produced by permanent magnets has beneficial health effects...

, Spiral Dynamics
Spiral dynamics
Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. The book was based on the theory of psychology professor Clare W. Graves...

 and UFOs in the Irish press. Paul O'Donoghue has commented on the amount of coverage alternative medicine gets in the media.

The Irish Skeptics Society hosted the 13th European Skeptics Congress from 7 to 9 September 2007 at the Davenport Hotel in Dublin.

External links

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