Religious bodies in talks with Government

Ground-breaking talks between the Government and religious bodies began in Dublin today.

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste welcomed representatives of the main Christian churches, as well as Jewish and Muslim leaders to a ceremony in Dublin Castle this afternoon.

The Government aims to create an inclusive relationship with all denominations and creeds during forthcoming bilateral discussions.

“The Government wants to inaugurate a new departure and an open dialogue with all denominations that is respectful of every faith and that is equally mindful of those who profess none,” Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said.

The talks are intended to reflect the increasingly diverse range of faith communities in Ireland and were first mooted by the Government in November 2004.

Other religious bodies participating in the talks will include the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran and Moravian churches.

Also represented will be the Religious Society of Friends, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Salvation Army, the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox and Romanian Orthodox churches, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Council of Churches and the Humanist Association of Ireland.

Mr Ahern said: “So much of what is happening within our society and in the wider world is bound up with questions of religion, religious identity and religious belief, that Governments, which refuse or fail to engage with religious communities and religious identities, risk failing in their fundamental duties to their citizens.”

He added that it would be mistake to forget that Ireland had a 2,000 year long religious tradition with Christianity.

“The moral attitudes inculcated in a culture of faith are at the core of the beliefs of very many more people who would not particularly consider themselves aligned with any particular creed or denomination.

“If modern Ireland were to dislocate from its hinterland of religious belief, our culture and our society would be cut adrift from its deepest roots and from one of its most vital sources of nourishment for its growth and direction into the future.”

Mr Ahern also thanked the “visionary Church personnel from all the denominations on the island, that we owe particular thanks for facilitating our education as a people”.