Three separate stories appeared during the week touching Irish constitutional and related issues.First we had confirmation that President McAleese in union with the rest of our current crop of unprincipled Irish politicians signed the controversial Civil Partnership Bill into law, despite many appeals to either refer the issue to the Supreme Court or resign rather than sign.
Sadly the Ireland I have known, the island of my birth is currently following the dictates of the European masters and jettisoning the Catholic faith on which our nation is founded. Even worse it is happening without the majority of Irish citizens even being aware of it
Second we had a story about Health Minister Mary Harney who it is reported is ruling out another referendum on abortion. Harney it appears made the comments on Friday at the launch of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency's annual report for 2009, which revealed that the number of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics dropped by a third between 2001 and 2009 to almost 4,500 Minister Harney is reported to have said she can't see another abortion referendum happening for some time yet. see report
The third story relates to one of Ireland's less illustrious politicians Labour Party Senator Ivana Bacik who has called for the Ireland to adopt a secular constitution at the AGM of Atheist Ireland last weekend. Senator Bacik told the meeting that there was now an appetite for constitutional reform in Ireland now that it is no longer dominated by Catholicism.
The fundamental rights elements of the Constitution, regarding the role of mothers in the home, rights of the father, protection of children and church involvement in education, should no longer be inspired by religious doctrine, she added.
Ms Bacik, herself an atheist, said there was a good deal of support among members of the Oireachtas (parliament) to separate the church from the state and that, even though many might not publicly admit it, there were a number of atheists among the parliamentary ranks.
Atheist Ireland according to a report has this year decided to campaign for the removal of religious oaths from the courts. It said witnesses could now ask to take a secular oath but that this could cause a jury to take a prejudiced view of them.
The group will also campaign for the removal of religious symbols from schools and hospitals, and for an education system in which children of non-religious people are not indoctrinated in religious teachings in school. It will also oppose the Oireachtas starting each day with a prayer asking God to guide the work of parliamentarians.
