Unholy row over plan to dispense with Council prayer

The prayer that is recited at the beginning of each meeting of Galway City Council earned a reprieve – for now – but may yet be replaced with a minute’s silence.

Councillors deferred making a decision about retaining or getting rid of the religious prayer at the start of meetings, but not before an unholy row threatened to boil over.

Elected members will vote on the issue at the next meeting on March 6. The exchanges became heated on Monday night during a brief debate over the appropriateness of saying a prayer in the Council chamber before meetings commence, as is the tradition for decades.

One city councillor said removing the prayer was a “joke” and political correctness in the extreme, but this was countered that religion – regardless of the beliefs or denomination – had no place in the business of the local authority meetings.

The debate arose during a discussion on a review of standing orders, which proposed a whole host of changes to the way business is conducted during Council meetings at City Hall.

Councillors were given two options:

• To enshrine in the standing orders that a prayer will be recited at the beginning of each meeting by the mayor or deputy mayor, and it can be recited in English or Irish, as is currently the case;
•  Beginning each meeting with “a moment of silent reflect” instead of the prayer.

Advocating the separation of Church and State, Fine Gael City Councillor Pearce Flannery proposed the second option. Cllr Flannery said the prayer was religious, and not inclusive of people of different religions and none.

“A moment of silent reflection is inclusive, and allows each member to then do what they like – say a prayer if they wish,” he said.

For more on the row, see this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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