Secularism in the Republic of Ireland

Secularism in the Republic of Ireland has been described as a "quiet revolution",^[1] comparable to the Quiet Revolution in Quebec. The term "quiet revolution" has been used to encompass a number of significant social and political movements related to secularism and secularization, which have occurred in the late 20th and early 21st century.^[2][3] It has been described as a period where "the people led, and the politicians followed".^[4] Since the passing of a 1972 amendment with overwhelming public support, Ireland has had a secular constitution, although a high degree of religious influence over laws, education, and state business still persisted in the decades which followed, diminishing only in more recent times. In an assessment of the Irish state's overall secularity, Humanists International gave Ireland a mixed score (2.8 points out of a maximum of 5 for violations of freedom of thought), finding "systematic discrimination" against non-religious people in government, education, and society.^[5]

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke of the country's contemporary era using the term "Quiet Revolution" following Ireland's historic repeal vote of the country's constitutional ban on abortion in 2018.^[6] This particular event which repealed the Eighth Amendment was labelled the tipping point. Other instances of secularized agenda and practice among the Irish public, figures, and the government have accumulated in the country to reflect the contemporary era of attitudinal change. One of these instances was in 2011 when then-Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny made a parliamentary condemnation speech of the Vatican's response to clerical child abuse allegations during the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic diocese of Cloyne.^[7] Kenny's words; "the dysfunction, the disconnection, the elitism that dominate the culture of the Vatican today", were met with nation-wide support in public, political and clerical domains.^{[8][9]: 0:00:50}

The Constitution of Ireland says that "no law may be made either directly or indirectly to endow any religion". However, in practice, some religious groups are legally and financially endowed by the state in the provision of some state-funded services, including education, where almost 90% of state-funded primary schools have Catholic "patronage".^[5] An article by Humanists International, published in 2020, compared the constitution's requirement of neutrality on religious questions with the practice, in the Dáil and Seanad, of beginning all sessions with a prayer.^[5] The same article queried whether hospitals, like schools, under religious patronage could discriminate against non-religious people by prioritising religious patients.^[5] The constitution also has some contradictory requirements on the question of secularism and equal treatment of different religious and philosophical convictions. For example, the President is required to take a religious oath, and a non-religious alternative is not provided for - "effectively preclud[ing] conscientious atheists and agnostics from holding" this role.^[5] The same lack of non-religious provision applies in criminal justice, too; all witnesses and jurors must make a religious oath and cannot instead make a secular affirmation in open court (as they can in the United Kingdom).^[5]