The Taoiseach has said it was not for the State to promote religion, still less any particular religion. "It is, however, for the State to recognise the public role of religion and religiously inspired action."
That was why the Government had initiated "a structured dialogue with the churches and faith communities, as well as non-confessional bodies."
Speaking at a ceremony in Dublin's Terenure synagogue yesterday, Mr Ahern said: "It is entirely healthy that a democratic society should show public respect for the various institutions and structures which give meaning to the lives of citizens. It is right that all of our main religious traditions should be reflected in acts of public significance, such as our ceremonies for the national day of commemoration. It is right that the Taoiseach should visit with the Jewish community, and celebrate the end of Ramadan with the Islamic community, as well as participating in celebrations in the Christian tradition."
He said of religion that "material prosperity is vital, together with its fair distribution. But it is not an answer to the meaning of life. Shopping centres may be the modern synagogue or cathedral, but they provide very poor religion".
The ceremony, organised by the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, and Ireland's Chief Rabbi, Dr Yaakov Pearlman, was held to mark the 40th anniversary of the Catholic Church's Nostra Aetate document which dealt with relations with other religions. Where Jews were concerned it proclaimed they "should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God".
The keynote address was delivered by a former chief rabbi in Ireland Dr David Rosen, the American Jewish Committee's international director of inter-religious affairs. Earlier this month he became the first Israeli citizen, the first Orthodox rabbi and the fifth living Jew to become a papal knight.
He was invested Knight Commander of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with Jewry.