Wall of separation between Church and State is far from being built

The separation of Church and State is easier to advocate than practise, as the National Maternity Hospital controversy shows, says TP O’Mahony

GIVEN the controversy over the ownership of the National Maternity Hospital and the Sisters of Charity, there has been much talk of the separation of the Church and the State. It is a doctrine we have scarcely come to terms with in this country. Insofar as it exists at all, it is honoured more in the breach than the observance.

The modern doctrine of the separation of Church and State is traced back to Thomas Jefferson, the main author of the American Declaration of Independence, of 1776. He was also the third president of the United States (1801-1809).