Bible should be replaced with civil oath, says ex-judge

The Bible should be replaced with a civil oath and witnesses who commit perjury should be prosecuted, a former district judge has suggested.

Retired judge Michael Pattwell said witnesses who swear on the Bible and deliberately tell lies are also “insulting religious people who do believe in it”.

Mr Pattwell served 21 years on the bench, mainly in North and East Cork. He said the country was, by the day, becoming more multi- cultural although it was still regarded as a country with a Christian ethos.