The daily Dáil prayer “sends a bad signal” by promoting a religious outlook that many Irish citizens are totally opposed to, according to Richard Boyd Barrett.
Every Dáil session begins with a short prayer, in English and as Gaeilge, before deputies take part in a 20-second moment of reflection.
The inclusion of the prayer has been a source of debate for many years and the current controversy over the ownership of the National Maternity Hospital has seen it raise its head once again.
In a tweet yesterday, Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said that rather than being a trivial matter, the issue “goes to the heart of what a Republic is”.
I’ve worked in the public service for 22 years as a teacher, principal & Oireachtas member.
Every single work day has begun with a prayer.
Whenever I raised it I was always told it was a trivial matter.
But it goes to the heart of what a Republic is, as does the NMH debate.
— Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (@AodhanORiordain) May 10, 2022
On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, Dún Laoghaire TD Richard Boyd Barrett said religion is a private matter that has no place in Dáil Éireann.
“It sends a bad signal, to my mind, that at the beginning of the day, when we are discussing the welfare of all of our citizens and the services and representation we have to deliver that we are giving pre-eminence to a particular religious outlook – often when that outlook would be at variance with the views, feelings and beliefs of many of our citizens,” he said.
He said the Dáil chamber is supposed to represent every single person in this country – and should not give pre-eminence to one religion or set of beliefs.
“The Catholic Church is an institution that holds views that are very much at variance with the views of many people on very controversial political issues and issues of public interest – whether it is abortion rights, divorce, LGBT rights and many other areas,” he said.
“People’s religious views are entirely their own and genuinely, I would fight to the death to respect people’s private religious beliefs and their right to have freedom of expression in that, but this is the chamber of representatives of the people.
“Right across the board we need a complete separation of Church and State so that religious views or the lack of them is a private matter. The institutions of the State or democracy and indeed the State agencies that deal with health, education, welfare and housing should be completely separate from any particular religious outlook on things.”
'No harm'
Also on the show Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath said the prayer “doesn’t do any harm to anybody”.
He said the moment of reflection was introduced as a compromise after a major debate on the issue back in 2017.
“For people that don’t want to take part in the prayer, they can use that to reflect on any creed, belief or whatever,” he said.
“We are not unique in Ireland. We have this all over the world in parliaments – Canada, South Africa, Sweden; many countries have had this debate in recent times and kept it.
“I can’t see any necessity to change it. It doesn’t hamper anybody and it gives us time to reflect and to invoke some self-support and intuition - goodness knows you need it here at times - and it is the quietest part of the day.”
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