Islamic leaders in Ireland have criticised a radical Islamic cleric, based in Lebanon, who reportedly expressed support for a terrorist attack on Dublin airport.
Structured dialogue between the State and various churches should start "in months" and would reflect the increasingly diverse range of faith communities in Ireland, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday.
Mr Ahern said meetings to agree the scope and structure of the talks had been very encouraging and the initiative had been welcomed "as an appropriate and timely response to complement the process of change in Ireland."
He said the dialogue process would include an annual meeting with all participants and an annual bilateral meeting with each representative body at which the State would be led by members of the Government and senior officials.
Asked in the Dáil by Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte about the delay in setting up the structure for dialogue, Mr Ahern said it had been a drawn out process as the various faiths were obliged to go to their councils and conferences before engaging in it.
As well as the main churches, the talks have included the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran and Moravian churches. They have also included the Religious Society of Friends, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Salvation Army, the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox and Romanian Orthodox churches, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Council of Churches and the Humanist Association of Ireland.
Mr Ahern said while the Constitution gave some churches "a structured position" with the State, most did not have such a position. He added that the process would not cut across some of the long-established arrangements that had been in place with the churches, chiefly for health and education issues.