Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I am not questioning the quality of the work done by the OPW on the event management. However, I will not support the Vote and we will see how the division on that goes. Members of the public are being asked to pay event management costs of €100 for each person who attended these events around the country. The public would not do that for a similar private event by a political organisation, social movement or the organisers of a concert or football match. In the cases of all those major events, the costs would be covered by the private organisation in question. This raises a fundamental question about the relationship of church and State. The public is made up of Catholics and non-Catholics, and everybody has their absolute right to practise their religion. However, the public is being asked en masseto pay for a private religious event of one private religion, in this case the Catholic Church. It seems to be completely at odds with any notion of a secular society and of the separation of church and State.