Six of the President's appointees to the Council of State have called for the removal of the requirement of office-holders to swear a religious oath.
The six have made a submission to the Constitutional Convention, questioning whether it is appropriate to be required to swear an oath to God in a country that is a Republic.
They have asked the Constitutional Convention to discuss and review the matter.
The six want the existing oath to be replaced by a pledge of commitment to the Constitution that has no religious reference at all.
They have also offered an alternative option, whereby a non-religious oath would be available to anyone who does not wish to swear a religious one.
The six appointees who have made the submission are former Supreme Court Justice Catherine McGuinness, solicitor Michael Farrell, civil rights campaigner Sally Mulready, social entrepreneur Ruairí McKiernan, Provost of the University of Ulster Professor Deirdre Heenan and Disability Law Expert at NUI Galway Professor Gerard Quinn.
They have said their request is not motivated by an anti-religious position, but rather is designed to make the Republic of Ireland open to all people, of any faith, and none.
The group members were not aware of their own requirement to swear a religious oath in order to sit on the Council of State, until they were called upon to do so in July of this year.
They have said that some of them have different feelings about this religious requirement.
However, all are agreed that it should be removed as a point of principle in order not to exclude individuals from office who may not wish to swear an oath to god.
