Ireland's non-secular state
Fintan O'Toole has a comment on the Garda's ban on Sikh turbans in today's Irish Times, and Slugger O'Toole (no relation) to my recent interview with the Irish integration minister, Conor Lenihan (who was clearly surprised when I asked him if he supported a similar Garda ban on Christian symbols). Fintan O'Toole supports further secularisation in the agencies of the Irish state, but calls for fairness in the treatment of all faiths in the Republic. This means that it is unfair to prohibit Sikh turbans as part of the Garda uniform while . . .
. . . we refuse even to discuss a non-sectarian education system, so long as we evoke a specific religious belief system in every aspect of our system of governance, we have no right to tell anyone that they have to keep their religion separate from their public function. Unless we are to practise naked discrimination, the logic of our current system is that our police officers can wear turbans, hijabs or Jedi light sabres - anything that is required by their faith. We also have to provide a range of religious schools in every community, all paid for by the taxpayer. We have to start D谩il sessions not with one prayer, but with at least 25 - one for each of the main religious groupings in the State - and with an atheist evocation of humanist principles.
Comments
Impeccable logic. If the Irish wish to remove signs of Sikhism from officials, they must do the same for all faiths. That means removing the Catholic Church's role in their constitution. Police should be told not to wear crosses visibly with their uniforms. If the Republic is not prepared to make that similar rule, then they are simply discriminating against a non Christian religion.
The decision by the GardaCommissioner and supported by the Republic鈥檚 Minister for Integration not to allow a Sikh Garda Reserve trainee to wear a turban as part of his uniform has triggered a new and very important debate about multiculturalism in Ireland. It has also, not unsurprisingly, become a big news story across the island and indeed globally.
Conor Lenihan, the South鈥檚 Minister for Integration, gave a significant number of media interviews defending the decision, including one with yourself. Mr Lenihan, a former journalist, failed to convince the Sikh community globally of the Irish government鈥檚 commitment to multiculturalism, claiming that because Ireland was a republic it would be inappropriate to distinguish between one officer and another. With hindsight, this appears to have been a mistake. The fact that the South is indeed a republic does not automatically imply it is secular and Sikh鈥檚 living in France, Egypt and the US know there are very many types of republic, some religious, some not. I have sympathy for the Minister in this regard. In Ireland we have traditionally seen our republic in the French (secular) model. It is however a tightrope message for any member of the Irish Government given the continued involvement of the Catholic Church in education and health-care, something the electorate generally has no problem with, but which does jar with the idea of a 鈥檚ecular鈥 republic. A further argument was that the wearing of a turban could affect the operational effectiveness of an officer.
PR observation one - Never make a claim you cannot stand over and always test your messages against their impact on every audience, at home and abroad. When dealing with multicultural and diverse audiences, special care needs to be taken to ensure your message reaches them in a way which can be understood and accepted.
Within a day the world鈥檚 biggest Indian expat website the Hindustan Times was reporting the story, as was the Times of India, Corrier International, Panthic Weekly, Earth Times as well as every newspaper and broadcast outlet on the island of Ireland. The Sikh Council of Ireland, serving Sikh police officers globally as well as at least one TD, Ciaran Cuffe - from the government coalition partners, the Green Party, called for a further debate on the issue, and raised questions the Garda Siochana is yet to answer. Not only were they disagreeing with the Garda decision in principal but they were also challenging many of the arguments being made in support of the decision.
PR observation two - always have rebuttals prepared for every counter-argument which could be made. For example the Garda are yet to give a good explanation of how a turban would affect the operational effectiveness of an officer.
So where to from here? The Garda and the government need to start communicating their argument much more clearly and concisely. They also need to consider their communications channels more carefully. Megaphone (media) communications are often the worst way of getting around an issue like this. An evidence based approach to policy making and by extension communications, is always best where the issue is complex and has the potential to trigger 鈥榥ational鈥 or even international debates.
Over the coming days it will be interesting to see whether a campaign builds up in support of the trainee Sikh reservist. It will be test for the Irish republic and the Garda Siochana as well as a challenge for politics as the issues raised question some big assumptions which have been comfortably held since the thirties. Unionism will also follow this debate closely looking for signs that the South is not in the words of the former First Minister and UUP Leader (Lord) David Trimble, a 鈥減athetic, sectarian, mono-cultural and mono-ethnic state鈥.
His words. Trust me. Not mine!
Perhaps a police officer should not parade his/her private religious beliefs when on duty because the role of police officer is supposed to be impartial where the citizens of the state are concerned?
As a citizen, I expect all public servants to be impartial in their interactions with all citizens. I object to any partiality of any kind which takes away from the proper code of conduct to be expected from public servants. Wearing religious symbols contradicts the strict impartiality which is required of public servants.
A police officer should wear the uniform of a police officer and nothing else. No Catholic crosses, no Orange sashes, no Sikh turbans, no Jewish skullcaps, etc. The police must be impartial and must be seen to be impartial. That is a basic principle for a multi-cultural state and should not be compromised for any section of the populace.
I hope the Government of the RoI keeps its nerve.