Religion is the least important aspect of Irish people’s lives, survey offers holistic view of life in Ireland

Ta me saorintinneach ach ta m'eaglais agus mo chreideamh pairt de mo shaol gach Domhnach. I am liberal-minded but my church and my faith are part of my life each Sunday

I've always understood religion as being an integral part of arts and culture. But this study separates them. I think the study needs tobe reconfigured.

No STEVEN I do not agree with you there now.I have noticed over this last couple a years a huge amount of people returning to their religion.Baptism,s bar mitsvaz , confirmations ,bazookas and all those type of religious events have been on the rise in Ireland.Now I am not one that has much time for any religion or race other than my own but I can tell you STEVEN RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IS ON ITS WAY BACK.I have no doubt as you will agree with me that evil prevailed in our society and still does, the devil,s work is not finished, we need to repent....John 3-10.

Holla - I was referring to the social problems. A belief system which encourages responsible and respectful behavior is a good thing whether it is a life philosophy, a religion or whatever. Whether the religion is 'true' or not does not matter.

Smyrnian, the reason that Ireland has economic problems is that unscrupulous financial leaders made loans they could not secure and bailed when the property boom ended. It had nothing to do with an unseen deity. In contrast the reason Northern Ireland has 'such problems' is due in large part to their persistent belief that an unseen deity really favors them over their neighbors. A mixed bag wouldn't you say? I doubt any deity (if one exists) is paying them a blind bit of attention.

Maybe that is why Irish society ( and its the same in the US and elsewhere) has such problems.

@@@hughmc | Jan 27, 2013, 09:28 AM EST I THINK TO LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE PEOPLE CARRY GUNS AND GO INTO SCHOOLS AND SHOPPING CENTER AND MASSACRE INNOCENT PEOPLE AND CHILDREN IS A FAR SICKER AND EVIL SOCIETY... YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT MY COUNTRY ARE WAY OUT OF ORDER AND I SUGGEST YOU START WITH FIXING THE FAR WORSE PROBLEMS IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY !!!

@@Willie Frazer | Jan 27, 2013, 01:02 PM EST I HAVE TO DISAGREE WILLIAN IM IRISH I LIVE HERE AND I WAS BORN HERE ... IM JUST WONDERING WHEN WERE U LAST ON HOLIDAYS HERE ? BECAUSE YES ITS TRUE FEWER IRISH PEOPLE NOW GOTO MASS OR THE CHURCH AND HAVE BECOME MORE SSPIRITUAL MAINLY BECAUSE OF ALL THE CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE THAT WAS DONE BY THE IRISH CHURCH OVER THE YEARS AND IT WAS ALL COVERED UP TILL A FEW YEARS AGO.. PEOPLE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN THE SICK AND EVIL THINGS THAT THE PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH DID AND I HOPE WE NEVER DO FORGET BECAUSE THE VICTIMS ARE STILL SUFFERING WITH THE TRAUMAS OF WHAT THEY WERE SUBJECTED TO... SO I AGREE WITH THIS ARTICLE !!

Somew talk about religious freedom, but the Irish people have learned in so many ways that what we need is freecom from religion.....The history of the catholic church is one of unmittigated horrors. From the hate of the Jews that ultimately brought about the holocaust and wwII, the holy inquisition of terror and mass murder of heretics, the 400years and 14 Crusades tha tmurdered 10s of millions of muslims , whihc was their own holocaust ad they too will vever forget - unfortunatly the blame the west, not the Vatican.............Then of course there is th4e kiddie twiddling by the sex starved power hungry priests..........Given both the kiddie twiddling and the christian brtohers horror (quote from a victim - a good day was a day without a beating) The smartest thing for the Vat to do is simply close up shop and go home to the country that gave the world fascism (Italy, not Germany) and the country of "the end justifies the means - Machiavelli...........BTW many thanks to the Italian supreme court who a week or 2 ago ruled gays are equally good parents. (check France24)............As Dr. MLK said in respect to the tyranny of the extremist slaver protestants - it should apply now to the vatican - Free at last, free at last - thank God almighty we are free at last.

This is the sort of headline sure to upset traditionalists, but taken in context it merely means that most Irish are adults culturally and emotionally. Religion at its best SUPPORTS and enriches every aspect of one's life, but as a priority, adults rank first those things they can do something about themselves to make their world a better place to live in.

I must say now I disagree with this statement, I think Ireland is returning more to its religious and spiritual ways again..."and from the clouds there came three white stallions,and the riders bowed at the throne, and the piper played." From the good book of revelations.I say amen to that now.

It is no surprise that more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of Irish Catholics follow their own conscience rather than Catholic Church teaching. Almost half of Irish Catholics do not believe in Hell while almost a fifth do not believe that God created man. They have lost trust in the Catholic Church because they have seen how 30,000 women in church-run laundries were abused and worked for years with no pay. They have read how another 35,000 children (some as young as 3 years old) were raped and tortured at over 250 Catholic orphanages. A typical church response was to offer an apology when caught out but until then to hide these priests in other parishes. For example, Cardinal Bernard Law of Catholic Boston is currently being protected in the Vatican by the pope against any civil prosecution.

Hughmc has it right. Ireland has become a dreary place with lots of unoccupied houses and equally unoccupied minds. Once it was a source of high culture in Europe; now it tries to convince itself of silly bumper-sticker slogans like one I saw when last there: "Ireland needs Europe." Perhaps, but I can tell you that most Europeans are of the mind that Europe needs Ireland about as much as it needs Greece. It's a land of no money, no jobs, no ideas, and most devastating, no beliefs. What a bunch of chumps.

Perhaps it's the way religion has been practiced in Ireland ~ maybe if the Vatican were to allow priests to marry and women to be ordained, it could remain more relevant in people's lives... as for spirituality, that seems to be alive and well! Pre-Christian practices are noted throughout the land, from holy wells and pagan ways from the earliest times of Bridget as she morphed from fertility goddess and guardian of hearth and home to patron saint (currently out of favor with the Pope, apparently!)

So spirituality is deemed umnimportant by many Irish people. And they think more academic education will solve their problems. More material "success". This is the kind of false thinking that spwned the late lamented "Celtic Tiger" (Celtic donkey, more like). Materialism is ruining the people of Ireland. It has created a crass, ignorant, greedy socity, where addiction, depression and suicide is rampant. And there isn't much real education about those realities.