An officer of the Equality Tribunal has found that the State "is not obliged to adopt a secularist approach" when it comes to matters of religion but was, rather, required by the Constitution "to respect and honour religion".
She referred to a Supreme Court judgment which held that the Constitution stated, at Article 44.3, that "the State shall not impose any disabilities or make any discrimination on the ground of religious profession, belief or status". This, the court held, must be considered in harmony with Article 44.2.1, which provided that "freedom of conscience and the free profession and practice of religion are, subject to public order and morality, guaranteed to every citizen."
The Equality Officer concerned, Ms Bernadette Traenor, made her remarks in findings published yesterday on a complaint about the ringing of the Angelus bell at the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle.
Acting in a personal capacity, Mr Brendan Sheeran, of the Association of Irish Humanists, complained that the ringing of the bells in a building run by the Office of Public Works (OPW) was "an inappropriate use of public property since the ringing of the bells is a call to prayer."
Ms Traenor found that ringing the Angelus bell at the Chapel Royal "appears to be part of the overall maintenance of the building and its traditions" by the OPW.