Labour and the Social Democrats have made a submission to the Dáil to scrap the pre-Dáil session prayer.

Traditionally, a short prayer is read out in both Irish and English before the Dáil begins its session by the Ceann Comhairle - however, some TDs believe this practice is outdated.

On The Hard Shoulder, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said they are looking for “something that would be more reflective” of the modern Irish parliament.

“I mean, I think the idea of taking a minute to reflect, I think that's a very good thing,” he said.

“I'm somebody who likes to take a breath before you go into something as serious as parliamentary work.

“But I think when it comes to the Dáil prayer, I suppose that's not something that is reflective of all our belief systems.

“I fully appreciate that there will be people there who will want to say a prayer to themselves, I think that's a good thing for people to have their faith to acknowledge before the chamber, but as a collective maybe the Dáil prayer is actually not so… it's not something I can really buy into on a personal level.”

Gary Gannon speaking at the Launch of the Social Democrats General Election 2024 campaign 12/11/2024 Photo: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

Deputy Gannon said a minute of reflection would be a more appropriate way to hold that space before the session begins.

“Maybe something that's actually just more a minute of reflection in a more kind of collective sense and those who wish to say a prayer in their own faith, they can do so,” he said.

“For somebody like me who wants to do a little bit of mindfulness, I can do so.

“But just the idea of having a singular prayer in someone's particular kind of traditions, actually, it's not reflective anymore.”

Deputy Gannon said the parties were asked to make submissions on how they might reform the Dáil for the better.

The Social Democrats believe making the Dáil a bit “more inclusive” in this way would make the Dáil better.

Leinster House, Dail Eireann, Kildare St Dublin which houses the Irish National Parliament. Image: Alamy

Also on the show, Senator Rónán Mullen said the Seanad were ahead of the Dáil in dealing with this issue.

“We were ahead of the Dawil on this about 12 years ago in the Seanad, and I remember, at the time, Ivana Bacik came forward with a similar point to Gary's and said, “Let's get rid of the prayer, we're not all believers here’,” he said.

“There was no support for that because people said, ‘Whether we believe or not, this is our tradition, we don't hollow out our best traditions’.

“But I said, let's have a compromise here - let's have 30 seconds of silence where we respect the solemnity of all people, believers or non-believers in their solemn duties and legislation is a solemn duty and a serious task.

“But I said, let's not just get rid of our best traditions, either - let's reflect on the fact that the majority of people in Ireland still claim a Christian tradition and that prayer to Jesus Christ asking him to inspire our work, we're actually asking Christ to do a very beautiful thing, which is to help us serve each other.”

Senator Ronan Mullen pictured outside Leinster House, 20-07-2013. Image: Laura Hutton/RollingNews

Senator Mullen also said there is “something still deeply Christian” about Ireland.

“I was actually giving a tour of Leinster House to some foreign visitors last night and I was showing them the proclamation of the Republic,” he said.

“I was drawing their attention to the idealism of the document and how at the bottom of it, it talks about where they place the cause under the protection of the Most High God and they pray that nobody who serves that cause would dishonor it by cowardice, inhumanity or rapine.

“It struck me how often that kind of idealism of nobility of service, service of others, is linked with that kind of eternal idea of the loving God that we all ultimately have to answer to.

“It strikes me that, although not everybody is a believer… there's something still deeply Christian about our country, where people who may or may not be believers, associate their highest ideals with that idea of the eternal loving God, Christ's death for us - even that's in the proclamation - the Easter sacrifice, you know, dying so that the country might live.”

Senator Mullen also said Irish people don’t realise “how much we depend on our Christian tradition for a lot of what we take advantage of”.

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A woman holds rosary beads while she prays. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)