Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh, agus a Aire féin, as a bheith linn don díospóireacht seo inniu. I apologise to the Minister of State for arriving late and missing his contribution but I was at a meeting elsewhere. I wanted an opportunity to speak on this proposed amendment of the Constitution. The blasphemy clause in the Constitution was the product of another time. We need a Bunreacht for today's society. It is important the Constitution reflects today's values, and central to those values is freedom of expression and freedom of speech. I would be confident, as has been said by colleagues, that the people will vote to delete it from the Constitution, as they have voted for on marriage equality and abortion reform in recent times. These are expressions for the modern era in which we now live.

In our island, partition created two conservative states. The conservatism was reflected in the political culture and the religious ethos of both those states. In the North the culture and ethos was used to create a one-party unionist religiously Protestant state, which discriminated against an entire community on the grounds of political, cultural and religious identity.This was also reflected in the social morals of that State. In the South, the State used its power differently but, nonetheless, the consequences were similar with power and privilege being in the hands of a political and Catholic religious elite. Out of that, a society was created where the Catholic Church and its attitude to public and private morality held sway. It suited the political interests of those in Government to cultivate a special relationship and special status for the Catholic Church. The place of the church in the 1937 Constitution institutionally enshrined the power of the Catholic Church. It was a different Ireland where the State and the Catholic Church moved hand in hand. This hand in glove relationship prevented public accountability of both State and church and this unaccountability space was filled with scandals such as child abuse and its cover up, mother and baby homes, Magdalen laundries, industrial schools and the list could go on.

This amendment, like the marriage equality and abortion reform amendments, is a step towards a new Ireland, a diverse Ireland culturally and spiritually powered by people of all faiths and none. Today, there is much more open criticism of the State and the church and that is good. It is the core tenet of any republic. No institution or body should be immune from challenge and criticism but it would be unacceptable if this were to extend to religious intolerance or prejudice against any particular faith or creed. An inclusive Ireland must recognise and accept all religious faiths and none. Religion plays a huge part in people's lives and is a source of great strength and solace. Society is in a state of flux. Each generation brings its own attributes with it and we have arrived at a point where an informed and an informative debate needs to take place in areas to do with health and education and the place of the Catholic Church therein.

There can be no special place for any one religion now or in a future independent Ireland. I stand for the republic of Wolfe Tone of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter. This upcoming referendum could be about embracing an ever changing Ireland and I hope that it is successful and that we continue to move towards a society that respects people of all religions and none.