Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Yes, I did. I explained to the Pope that we were continuing with our position on the constitution. Needless to say, he was very seized of what was happening at European level because the church was deeply involved in discussions in that regard.

This proposal moved on from a period when some countries would not recognise the concept of Christianity or God in the preamble to the constitution. While the Deputy knows where I stood on that issue, it was not an issue on which we were going to get agreement so I did not pursue it. However, during the negotiations, when it was my responsibility, we achieved unanimous agreement among all groups with regard to this dialogue, which many of the countries involved already have.

We are behind many countries in this regard. Our position on engaging with the churches has not been as good as that of other countries. After all that has been done through the years, we should try to catch up with secular countries like France and others that perhaps respect their churches more than we do.

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