Fergus O’Rourke:
1. Will you work to reform the education system so that all children in your constituency can access publicly-funded schools which have no religious ethos?
My political commitments have to be very limited if I am going to get anything done in the short time available to me. This question seeks one that is not on my list. But I am not hostile.
2. Would you support a referendum to remove religious references from the Constitution ?
In a word, no. But I might be persuaded in the future – see answer to no.1
3. Do you believe that blasphemy should be a criminal offence ?
In a word, no.
4. Would you support legislation to prevent hospitals from having a religious ethos ?
Probably
5. If elected, would you vote to ensure that religious bodies are treated the same as other organisations under equality and employment legislation ?
Not sure that I understand the context properly, but, in a word, yes.
6. Do you believe that religions should have to pay their fair share of tax on income that does not come from charitable activities ?
In a word, yes.
7. If you wish to provide a brief general statements of your views on the future development of secularisation in Ireland, or to highlight any previous comments you have made on related issues, please do so.
See answer to no.1 above.
Mick Barry:
(1) Yes. If religious orders wish to run schools with a religious ethos they should do so privately and fund the schools from their own monies. All publicly-funded schools should be run on a secular basis.
(2) Yes. I would support removing all religious references from the Consitution. However, I would go further and say that the 1937 Constitution needs to be replaced with a Socialist Constitution which enshrines a full separation of Church and State.
(3) No, I do not believe that blasphemy should be a criminal offence. Making blasphemy a criminal offence is the type of policy one would expect in a theocracy. This is meant to be a republican democracy.
(4) Hospitals should be allowed to have a religious ethos only if they are privately funded. All hospitals that receive state funding should be removed from the control of religious orders and apply a secular ethos.
(5) Equality and employment legislation should apply to all churches.
(6) Non-charitable church income should of course be taxed.
(7) Comments: I am a socialist. I support the complete separation of Church and State. I defend the right of any man or woman to practice their religious beliefs but these beliefs should not in any way be imposed upon the broader society. The atheist viewpoint is a very important viewpoint in our society and I thank you for your questionnaire and wish you well in your endeavours.
Jonathan O’Brien:
See the statement provided by Sinn Fein on behalf of all its candidates.
Kathleen Lynch:
See the statement provided by the Labour Party on behalf of all its candidates.
John Gilroy:
See the statement provided by the Labour Party on behalf of all its candidates.
Pat Burton:
See the statement provided by Fine Gael on behalf of all its candidates.
Dara Murphy:
See the statement provided by Fine Gael on behalf of all its candidates.
Ken Walsh
See the statement provided by the Green Party on behalf of all its candidates.
Ted Tynan
See the statement provided by the Workers’ Party on behalf of all its candidates.
No Response Received From:
Billy Kelleher
Padraig O’Sullivan
John Adams
Kevin Conway
Harry Rea
Benjamin Ashu-Arrah
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