Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On 31 August last, I held a formal meeting under the structured dialogue process with representatives of the Catholic Church, led by Archbishop Eamon Martin. I was accompanied at the meeting by the then Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation and by the Ministers for Education and Skills; Health; Transport, Tourism and Sport; and Employment Affairs and Social Protection. A wide-ranging discussion took place on a range of important national and international issues, including the World Meeting of Families which will take place in Dublin in August 2018, the possibility of a visit to Ireland by the Pope, which has since been confirmed, education issues such as enrolment policies, the eighth amendment to the Constitution, Northern Ireland, overseas development aid, and social and justice issues. I also received a courtesy call from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, as is traditional around Christmas time and the New Year.

I met representatives of the Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian and Methodist churches on 22 January 2018. I was accompanied by the Ministers for Justice and Equality; Business, Enterprise and Innovation; Education and Skills; Health; and Transport, Tourism and Sport; and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This was the second in a series of meetings that I will be holding with dialogue partners. We discussed important social and economic issues facing society, including Brexit, education issues and the eighth amendment to the Constitution, as well as international issues.

Churches and faith communities play an important role in Irish life and I think it is very beneficial that Government should engage with them in a structured way. Some of the issues we discussed at these meetings were challenging. They are issues on which people have deeply held views and which are matters of conscience. Our discussions were valuable, not just because they dealt with important issues but particularly because they were conducted in an atmosphere of respect for the views of others, where everyone sought to be constructive.

I also had the opportunity to attend a Passover seder on Good Friday in the home of Maurice Cohen, the head of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, and discussed similar matters with him and his people.

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