Secular Ireland
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Constitution Convention Submission, February 2013
Ireland must become a secular State and her Constitution
must reflect this.
A secular state is a concept of secularism, whereby a state or country purports to be
officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular
state also claims to treat all its citizens equally regardless of religion, and claims to
avoid preferential treatment for a citizen from a particular religion/non­religion over other
religions/non­religion. Secular states do not have a state religion or equivalent, although
the absence of a state religion does not guarantee that a state is secular (from
Wikipedia).
When Ireland’s Constitution was drafted, this was an entirely different country. The
Catholic Church had undue influence on those who wrote the Constitution and we must
now acknowledge that a Constitution fit for the 21st century cannot endorse any one
religion. Indeed, we must embrace non­religion as a valid choice.
What must change?
1. Preamble
Specifically the introductory paragraphs:
“In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom
is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all
actions both of men and States must be referred,
We, the people of Éire,
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Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our
Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers
through centuries of trial,”
The Preamble is an offensive piece of fantasy fiction which implicitly states that all the
people of Ireland are Christian and that all authority comes from a Christian God. The
authority of the State comes from the people, not God. The existing Preamble may be
replaced with something more concise and inclusive, such as:
“We, the people of Éire,
Do hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution, and proclaim that
sovereignty resides and shall reside in the People of Ireland, not any form of institution
of the State.”
2. Articles 12, 31 and 34
Articles 12, 31 and 34 prescribe the oaths of office for the President, the Council of
State and judges. All must swear “in the presence of Almighty God” to fulfil the particular
role. The oaths finish with the words “may God direct and sustain me”. So if an atheist
or non­Christian is appointed as a judge he or she has no option but to swear an oath to
a ‘supreme being’ which he/she does not believe in. How can we demand dishonesty?
How can we preclude non­believers from a State position?
These oaths must replace the words “Almighty God”/“God” with the phrase “the people
of Ireland”.
3. Article 40.6
“The publication or utterance of blasphemous ... matter is an offence which shall be
punishable in accordance with law.”
The law should protect people from harm, but not protect ideas from criticism. So the
word “blasphemous” should be deleted from the above article.
4. Article 44
“The State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God. It
shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall respect and honour religion.”
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The State should allow for the freedom to practice religion, certainly, but the above
clause should be deleted in its entirety. Who is this ‘Almighty God’? Is it the same God
that rules Jews and Muslims? What about those who revere multiple Gods? What about
atheists who don’t believe in the existence of any Gods? Why is the State holding the
name of any one God in reverence? Article 44 just doesn’t make any sense in a
modern, inclusive society.
Conclusion
Ireland needs a modern, secular Constitution which allows all citizens, of all religions
and none, to live together as equals. The State must remain neutral on matters of
religion. The sections of the Constitution as detailed above are remnants from another
time. To many, they are offensive, incredible and discriminatory. The people of Ireland
deserve better.
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