Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Pope Benedict XVI discussed Northern Ireland, church-State dialogue and the European Constitution at the Vatican yesterday.
After his meetings with the Pope and Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Sodano, Mr Ahern said the Pope had expressed the hope there would be progress in Northern Ireland in the weeks ahead "which would allow us to go back to build the trust and confidence we had".
He said that for him personally and as a Catholic, yesterday's private audience was "a great honour" and "a huge personal pleasure". It was also an acknowledgment of "the strong ties of history and affection" between the Holy See and Ireland.
He had found Pope Benedict "a very nice, kind, gentle man" who spoke with familiarity about senior Irish church figures. He had commented, for instance, that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin - who served for many years at the German College in Rome - had very good German.
He also spoke of his "very good friend" Cardinal Desmond Connell, with whom he had served over many years on Vatican congregations. And he had spoken of the Catholic primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, and the papal nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto.
Mr Ahern met the Pope for about 20 minutes and Cardinal Sodano for over half an hour. Afterwards he visited the tomb of Pope John Paul II, where he laid a bouquet and said a prayer.
He then hosted a lunch for members of Irish religious congregations in Rome.
The Pope had also expressed "huge appreciation" for Ireland's efforts and the contribution of Irish people in helping the developing world, whether in matters of health and education, or in fighting for human rights.
They had also discussed the the EU's constitutional treaty, Mr Ahern said. There was "no question of renegotiating" the treaty or of including a reference to God in it. "Ireland tried hard" to have such a reference included, but that was "firmly ruled out".
The Taoiseach and Pope Benedict discussed the Government's initiative to encourage more structured dialogue between church and State. The Government has written to all Christian churches and other faith communities in Ireland, detailing its proposals in that regard. It follows a Cabinet decision last week to set up such structures, in line with article 52 of the European constitutional treaty.
The Government secretary, Dermot McCarthy, said yesterday the churches and faith communities had been advised of a three-strand proposal. This would involve: ongoing contact at an official level, probably with a designated civil servant in the Department of Taoiseach initially; separate informal meetings - with an agreed agenda - between each church/faith community and relevant Government Ministers, to take place at irregular intervals; and an annual plenary meeting which would be attended by all churches/faith communities and which would be addressed by the Taoiseach.
Mr McCarthy said the Government intended to be flexible so as to accommodate the spectrum of different expectations of all religions when it came to their dealings with the State.