A challenge to the wording of the presidential oath in the Constitution - which references 'almighty God' - has been dismissed by the European Court of Human Rights.
The challenge was taken by a group of five Irish people - including Social Democrats co-leader Roisín Shortall, Sinn Féin TD John Brady, former CEO of Barnardos Fergus Finlay and Senator David Norris.
They claimed the reference excluded those who were non-Christian and could prevent them from taking up the office of the presidency or a place on the Council of State.
They wanted to see the provision removed or replaced with a secular alternative.
However, the Court dismissed the case - saying the applicants had "failed to provide reasonable and convincing evidence" that the provision put them at risk of being directly affected.
In their decision, the judges said: "None of the applicants had sought to establish that they had any realistic prospect of successfully seeking that office with reference to their own particular political circumstances and the requirements of the Constitution.
"The Court thus considered that none of the applicants had provided reasonable and convincing evidence that they were at real risk of being directly affected by the requirements of the Constitution in relation to the taking of the oath, and rejected the complaints of all five applicants as inadmissible."
