SW News: A concerted effort to eliminate ‘almighty God’ from the presidential oath in Ireland has met with a serious setback. The campaign led by a group of politicians has lost steam after their legal challenge failed in the European Court of Human Rights.
The law stipulates that the president and Council of State members are mandated to swear with the words "in the presence of almighty God" that they will fulfil their duties and protect the Constitution. However, it was challenged by leaders Roisin Shortall and John Brady, Senator David Norris, former CEO of Barnardos Fergus Finlay, and Trinity College Dublin Chancellor David McConnell.
They said that Articles 12.8 and 31.4 of the Constitution that mandates swearing in the presence of God “exclude conscientious non-Christians, non-believers and those who do not wish to violate their consciences both from the office of President and from membership of the Council of State”. The leaders claimed that the mandatory requirement for the offices of president and member of Council of State prevents them from taking up those offices.
A seven-member panel of judges ruled on Thursday, November 18, that the legal challenge did not stand as none of the plaintiffs could prove that he or she was impacted by the oath. “The Court therefore considers that none of the applicants provided reasonable and convincing evidence that there was a real risk of being directly affected by the constitutional requirements relating to taking the oath, and dismisses the complaints of the five applicants as inadmissible,” they said in the verdict.
“The Court then notes that while the Contracting States enjoy a wide margin of appreciation in issues relating to the relationship between state and religion, this nevertheless goes hand in hand with the European control. The reference by a State to a tradition cannot exempt it from its obligation to respect the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention.”
Expressing deep disappointment over the verdict, Social Democrat leader Roisin Shorthall said she will table a bill in the Oireachtas to conduct a plebiscite to remove the mandatory oath.
“In a modern republic, it is anathema that those elected to one of the highest political offices in the land, that of President, are required to swear an oath to “almighty God,” she said in a statement.