Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

At the Kennedy Summer School, which was held in my constituency last month, the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, spoke of Catholic politicians. Specifically, he spoke of Catholic politicians having a responsibility to support laws which uphold the dignity of every human person made in God's image from conception to death, and cautioned against politicians having parallel lives which are compartmentalised into spiritual and secular spheres.

As we become more pluralist and our society becomes infinitely more multicultural, the idea of Catholic politicians could become deeply problematic, especially for growing minority groups. When Catholic bishop Daniel Mageean wrote in 1939 that Lord Craigavon had adopted the slogan "A Protestant parliament for a Protestant people", he did so in protest of the subjugation of the rights of the Catholic minority. Is it not time we left those types of characterisations in the past? In a republic, we cherish the right of everybody to adhere to and express the religion of their choice, but we should not revert to a time when clerics instructed politicians, as used to be the case in both this jurisdiction and the North.

Does the Taoiseach intend to discuss the aforementioned comment about Catholic politicians in the context of the church-State covenant he is discussing with church leaders? Similarly, does the Taoiseach intend to undertake any specific initiatives regarding school patronage in light of growing pluralisation in our society?

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