Atheist Ireland runs a ‘One Oath For All’ campaign, to enable conscientious atheists to hold the office of President, Judge, Taoiseach, Tánaiste, or other members of the Council of State.
Currently, to take up any of these offices, we would have to swear a religious oath, the wording of which is in the constitution. This would force us to dissemble about our beliefs and breach our human right to freedom of conscience and belief.
The oath that all of these office holders must swear begins with the words “In the presence of Almighty God”, and the oath that the President and Judges must swear also ends with the words “May God direct and sustain me.”
It is clear from the Preamble to the Constitution that the ‘Almighty God’ involved is the Christian God, explicitly naming ‘the Most Holy Trinity’ and ‘our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ.’
We want a referendum to replace these religiously discriminatory oaths in our Constitution, so that all citizens of our Republic can be treated equally regardless of their religious or philosophical beliefs.
These public officeholders should instead make a single declaration of loyalty to the Irish Constitution, State, and people, that does not reveal anything about the person’s religious or philosophical beliefs.
In 2014, after Atheist Ireland met with the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, the Committee told Ireland to replace these religious oaths for public office, and to remove the law against blasphemy. We have removed the law against blasphemy, and we should now replace the religious oaths.