A former Justice Minister has criticised the “lack of respect” shown for Christians as publicly-funded agencies increasingly use ‘winter’ instead of ‘Christmas’ to speak about the celebration of the birth of Christ.
The stance taken by bodies like Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland of excluding Christian sentiments is “not only lacking in respect, but it’s distasteful”, former justice minister Charlie Flanagan told The Irish Catholic this week.
He believes the move is part of a “regrettable” trend towards increased political correctness among publicly-funded bodies.
“The reasoning seems to be not to give offence to non-Christians. I don’t accept that,” the Fine Gael TD said.
“I don’t know anyone who can be offended by Christmas. I have been a TD in rural Ireland for over 30 years, I know many Muslims and many non-Christians across my constituency and beyond who join in the Christmas festivities.”
