Stephen Collins, the respected political editor of The Irish Times, has a real bee in his bonnet about the Church’s interventions in the abortion debate. A few months ago he suggested that the bishops’ interventions were practically subversive and the Government had to resist at all costs in the name of democracy.

Now he is saying that in publishing the abortion bill the Government has finally realised Daniel O’Connell’s dream of separating Church and State.

In his column on Saturday Collins wrote: “Back in 1837 Daniel O’Connell, the pioneer of Irish democracy, told the Commons that the time was coming when ‘the unholy union of church and state will be permanently severed in all countries professing the Catholic religion – to the securing I am confident, of the purity of the one and the consolidating safety of the other’.

“It seems O’Connell’s aspirations have finally been achieved in his own country.”

But surely Stephen knows that O’Connell operated in a vastly different environment to the one we have today and that back then countries like Britain (and therefore Ireland) had official State religions which stripped adherents of other religions of many, if not all of their rights?

Anglicanism was our official religion. Many of the penal laws were still in effect and those in public office had to take loyalty oaths and prove they were Church of Ireland communicants.

So when Daniel O’Connell spoke about the need to separate Church and State this was the sort of thing he had in mind.

He certainly didn’t have in mind reducing Christianity’s influence over public policy to zero. That is not the separation of Church and State. That is the separation of religion from public life, a completely different thing.

Stephen Collins will have to think through why he believes Christians, as Christians, can have no influence upon public policy, but trade unionists, business organisations and numerous other civil society organizations can.

Just like the Churches, all of these organizations have a point of view that not everyone will agree with but they want to see their point of view enshrined in law and public policy nonetheless.

Why are they allowed this right and the Churches are not?  

PS In his article Collins quote John A Costello to the effect that he was an Irishman second and a Catholic first. Apparently he never said that. Seemingly future Labour leader Brendan Corish said it back in 1953.

PPS I did a quick search of the Hansard’s record for that O’Connell speech Collins quotes above. I couldn’t find it. This is the closest thing I could find and it doesn’t contain anything like the quote Collins uses. If someone can find it, I’d be grateful!