A Veiled Problem: Religion in Irish Schools

• Author: Claire Hogan
• Position: Senior Sophister Law and French, Trinity College, Dublin
• Pages: 5-31

A

VEILED

PROBLEM:

RELIGION

IN

IRISH

SCHOOLS

CLAIRE

HOGAN*

On the

1O

th

February

2004, an

overwhelming majority

of

the French

National

Assembly approved

a

legislative

text

banning

the

wearing

of

"conspicuous religious

symbols

and

clothing"

in

public

schools. The

bill

was

signed was

into law

by

President

Jacques Chirac

on the

150,

March

2004,

and has been

in

effect

since

the

2

nd

September,

the beginning

of

the

new

school

year.

The

adoption

of

the

law

was

marked

by

an

unprecedented

level

of

impassioned

debate

and

public

protest, both nationally

and

internationally.

1

The

polemic has

centred

on the

clash

between

secular

and

religious values,

as

well

as

the

perceived threat

of

racism, which many

feel

the legislation

embodies.

The

present

article

examines

the

current nature

of

education

in

Irish

schools,

beginning with

a

general

examination

of

Church-State

involvement

in

Ireland as

compared

to

that

in

France,

and

culminating

in

a

determination

of

whether

the

ban

which has

been

imposed

in

France

could

ever

be

transposed

to

the

Irish school

setting.

In

an

increasingly

religiously

diverse society,

it

is

opportune

to

contextualise

the

problems

which other

EU

States have grappled

with,

in

order to

pave

a

way

for

the future

and

also

in

the hope

of

avoiding the

pitfalls

which

our

neighbours

have

encountered.

2

"Senior

Sophister

Law

and

French,

Trinity

College, Dublin.

I

would

like

to

thank

Dr. Gerard

Hogan

for

his

helpful

comments

on

an

earlier

draft

of

this

article.

Any

errors

or

omissions

are

entirely my own.

1

See

Marlowe,

"Debate

on

Headscarves

Reveals Racist

Subtext"

The

Irish

Times,

10

February

2004;

Gillespie,

"Cultural

and

Social

Integration

in

a

Changing

Europe"

The

Irish

Times,

31

January

2004.

2

There

are

a

myriad

of

human

rights

issues

at

stake

in

a

discussion

of

this

nature,

however,

the

focus

of

this

article

is

on the

constitutional

order

of

the Irish

State;

therefore,

discussion of

substantive

human rights

issues

shall

be

confined

accordingly.

©

2005

Claire

Hogan and

Dublin

University

Law

Society

Trinity

College

Law

Review

Church

and

State

in

France-

textbook

iafcitd

3

In

France,

it

was with

the

decree

of

21st

February

1795

that

the

separation

of

Church and

State was

first

established.

4

The

values promoted

by

the

Revolution simply

did not cohere with the

nature

of

clerical power

and

dominance,

as

it

was

then.

Article

10

of

the

1789

Declaration

of

the

Rights

of

Man

5 provides

for

freedom

of

religious

opinion, while

the

Constitution

of

1791

guaranteed

the

freedom

of

religious

observance.

However,

the

Republic provided neither

financial support

nor

recognition

to

the

ministers

of

religion.

Throughout

the

19th

century,

there was

a

shift

in

attitude

towards

the

Church, following

the

negotiation

of

an

important Concordat

between

Napoleon

Bonaparte

and

Pius VII.

6

Essentially,

it

was

established

that

four

recognised

Churches

would

benefit

from

certain financial

advantages

provided

by

the

State,

whilst obliged

to

permit

their affairs

to

remain under

the

close

control

and

supervision

of

the

authorities.

During

a

time

of

great

political unrest,

there

followed

many

uneasy

relationships

between

different

Governments

or

Rigimes

and

the

Church. French

history

is

chequered;

suffice

to

summarise that following

long

clashes

between

proponents

of

the

Ancien

Regime

and

New Order, as

well

as

a

few

flirtations

with the

idea

of

a

monarchy,

it

was

the

Republicans

who

eventually

won

the

day

in

the

late

19th

Century.

The subordination

of

Church thinking

to

more

'enlightened'

ideals

was

inevitable.

Diplomatic

relations with

the Holy

See

were

dramatically

ceased

in

1904.

On

foot

of

this the

Law

of

9

December

1905

was

passed,

imposing

Separation

of

Church

and

State,

which

remains

the

situation

to

the

present

day.

The

1905

law

ended

the

status

of

the

'recognised

Churches'.

This

far-

reaching

move

was

condemned

by

the

Catholic

Church

and

generated

much

controversy

and debate at

the

time.

7

The freedom

of

public worship

3

In

France

and some

other

French-speaking

countries,

laicitd

(pronounced

laisite)

is

a

prevailing

conception

of

the

separation

of

Church

and

State

and

the

absence

of

religious

interference with

governmental

affairs

(and

vice

versa).

4

See

Basdevant-Gaudemet,

"State

and

Church

in

France"

in

Robbers

ed.,

State

and

Church

in

the

European

Union

(Nomos,

1996)

119.

-Declaration

of

the

Rights

of

Man

and

of

the

Citizen,

approved

by

the

National

Assembly

of

France, 26

August

1789.

6

As

signed

on

15

July

1781

(26

Messidor

an

IX)

and

completed

by

various

organic

articles,

decrees

and

texts

to

form

a

corpus

of

provisions.

7

See

Kerleveo,

L

'Eglise

Catholique

en

rigimefraneais

de

separation

(3

vol.

Paris,

Descld,

1962).

[Vol.

8