“A republic that cannot accommodate the religious convictions of large numbers of its citizens is no republic at all” and is “a contradiction in terms”, the primate of all Ireland, Cardinal Seán Brady (pictured) has said.

Speaking at the weekend in St Patrick’s College Maynooth at a graduation ceremony for 134 theology students, Cardinal Brady said that it should be “a matter of deep concern to all people of faith that an easy disregard for the religious faith of so many citizens holds increasing sway on this island”.

His words come in the wake of a number of moves by the Government which have been seen to alienate practising Catholics.

Last month’s closure of Ireland’s embassy to the Vatican, and proposals to weaken the freedom of primary schools to promote their ethos, made at the Forum on Pluralism and Patronage last week, as well as the Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn’s proposal to transfer “at least half” of the primary schools currently run by the Catholic Church to alternative patrons have been seen by some as part of a secularising campaign by the Government.

The Government has also said that it will introduce mandatory reporting legislation on child abuse, which will require priests to break the seal of Confession if they are told about child abuse.

In the wake of the Cloyne Report, Taoiseach Enda Kenny made an extraordinary attack on the Vatican, accusing it of attempting to interfere in a Government enquiry into child abuse, a claim the Government was subsequently unable to verify.

“In Ireland, for the first time in our history, our politics, economics and social structures function in a manner where God is almost unmentioned and irrelevant.”

“It is as if we operate in a world, as someone put it, where God is missing but not missed, or where most aspects of life are conducted as though God did not exist,” he continued.

“Increasingly this is expressed in a form of secularism which says religion is fine so long as it keeps to its place as a private belief and does not intrude into the public arena or a person’s approach to their civic duties. This is often justified in the name of tolerance and freedom. In fact, it could hardly be more intolerant and illiberal.”

Sadly “there is a kind of deafness or blindness about much of our life today. Our busy culture does not leave much room for talking about God,” he said.

What was needed were “politicians, public servants, scientists, journalists, economists, bankers and others with the integrity and courage to bring their Christian faith with them into the cabinet room, the laboratory or the boardroom.

“We need Christians in every arena of life who respectfully present their views as equals and without compromise to the whole truth of who they are. You cannot compartmentalise faith and life.

“A God who is relevant only to some parts of my life and only to some aspects of the world is not God at all. A society which respects the freedom of religion of its citizens as one of the most fundamental freedoms of all, will value and protect this principle,” he said.

“In a culture that values having and doing over being and meaning, devoting serious study to the deeper questions of life is not an obvious priority.

“One could be forgiven for thinking that theology and philosophy are something of a niche pastime. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.”

He noted, for instance, that “the demand for courses in theology here in Ireland has never been greater. We have never had so many lay people qualified at graduate and post-graduate level in theology . . . There is a constant demand for evening classes in theology, particularly in the Scriptures.”

This was, he said, “a tremendous sign of hope for the future.” Was it possible, he asked, “that more and more people are searching for something deeper than material fulfilment after the collapse of the Celtic Tiger?

“Is it possible that the global nature of our financial crisis and the challenge of climate change are giving rise to a new openness to solidarity and interdependence?”