No pagans? We don't believe it

Pagans have been excluded from the Government's dialogue with faith groups, writes Shane Hegarty.

It pre-dates the main religions in this country, influenced several Christian traditions and its followers have been up at the crack of dawn for every summer and winter solstice in memory. It's understandable that the pagan community is unhappy it hasn't been invited to the Government's upcoming dialogue with faith groups. Yet, that list will include the Humanist Association of Ireland, a body which can be more readily described as a lack of faith group.

"Basically, it's Ireland's oldest spiritual tradition, dating back millennia before the patriarchal religions," explains pagan Kit Ó'Marcaigh. "And we haven't been invited at all, we only hear about it through the media. But they've offered a seat to the Humanist Association. The whole point is to reflect spiritual diversity, yet the Humanists have no church, god or goddess." Despite writing to the Taoiseach's office, pagans are still off a long list. More than 20 groups will be involved in bilateral talks on an annual basis, including Moravian and Bavarian churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Quakers, Mormons, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i and four Orthodox churches. As ever, Ó'Marcaigh says, paganism has to play second fiddle to the "patriarchal religions", although he admits that paganism's fragmented traditions and its lack of hierarchical structure ("That would go against everything it is about. It's organic in nature"), will have made it difficult for the Government to know who to talk to.

It's not easy admitting you're a pagan, says Ó'Marcaigh. In the 1980s, the British social services broke up pagan families following accusations of sacrifice traditions, and the tabloids still enjoy a pagan sacrifice story every now and then. "It doesn't do us any favours. That ignorance hits the wider public. We are pro-people, pro-nature. We have a karmic view of death, so we must show respect for every living thing." And there's little help from other religions. "Rather than admit it's an ancient spiritual tradition, it's easier to dismiss us as new-age hippies." Ó'Marcaigh, though, is hoping to set up a forum to educate the public and media in what paganism is about, and perhaps offer a group to whom the Government will talk.

Last year, Ó'Marcaigh returned his Census form in protest over paganism being excluded from the list of religions. In the most recent results, from 2002, paganism does not feature, but he puts their numbers "in the thousands".

As it happens, the second-largest group other than Roman Catholics, according to the Census, are those who put "No Religion" on their forms. So, involved in the dialogue, and facing off against the massed ranks of religion, will be the Humanist Association of Ireland. According to its submission to the Government, it will "seek to ensure that State institutions are not biased towards any particular belief group". Given the numbers it loosely represents, it doesn't see its inclusion as odd. Nor would it have any problems with pagans being included, says one of its directors, Brendan Sheeran. He adds that while the Irish Humanists are happy to be part of the talks - and would have no problem if any other non-faith groups were involved in future - their French counterparts wouldn't be so willing. "They don't believe there are any such things as groups, only individuals. They'd argue, 'why not talk to a group of horticulturalists, they're as valid as any religious group'. But we're saying if we weren't part of this, it would be more dangerous."

So where should the Government draw the line between which religions it talks to and which it doesn't? The Census figures don't offer much clarity. There are more than 1,000 people who categorised themselves as "pantheist", and 590 people put themselves down as "lapsed Roman Catholic". And almost 9,000 people are of "other stated religions", although the Central Statistics Office confirms that none of these considered themselves pagan. And unlike in the US, no one put themselves down as "Jedi knight". Still, it would make interfaith discussions confusing if the Government was to talk to every single group.

"They went through this a long time ago in the UK," explains Prof John D'Arcy May, associate professor of interfaith dialogue at the school of religions and theology at Trinity College Dublin. "If you go to prison now, you can tick a box saying you're pagan and a wicca or whoever will come and minister to you." Pagans, he says, have a good case for inclusion, especially in Ireland where there has been a "continuity of the heritage that's almost different to other countries".

And anyone else? "There's a simple rule of thumb: if it says it's a religion, then it is a religion. Although that can be a bit dicey. When it comes to Scientology, I'd tend to draw the line." As Ireland's faith groups proliferate, the problem is only going to become stickier. "It's an insoluble question in the end. It all depends on your point of view," says Prof May. "It's good to have a forum, but to try and represent all of the diversity . . . man, oh man!"