Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Ministers were praised last night for the manner in which they received a delegation from the Humanist Association of Ireland at a meeting under the new structured dialogue process between the State and faith/philosophical communities.
The process was established last February by the Taoiseach and then tánaiste and minister for justice Michael McDowell. Dick Spicer, vice-chairman of the Humanist Association, said yesterday's meeting had been "very, very satisfactory". The Government was represented at the meeting by the Taoiseach and Ministers Dermot Ahern, Brian Lenihan, Eamon Ryan, Conor Lenihan, Trevor Sargent and Dick Roche.
To date the Taoiseach and Ministers have met representatives from the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland, the Jewish community and the Islamic community as part of this dialogue process.
Yesterday, as well as the humanist group, they also met representatives of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Baha'i community. Commenting on the dialogue process, the Taoiseach said it would "build up a more tolerant, inclusive, reflective society, which will continue to change and evolve".
Matters discussed with the Quakers yesterday included peace and reconciliation, the environment, racism, asylum seekers, people traffickers and health.
The Baha'i representatives spoke of their faith, human rights, and religion in society. Issues raised by the humanist delegation included timetabling of religious instruction in schools and the development of a more integrated system of primary education nationwide, and legislation on registration of civil marriages.