DUBLIN, IRELAND - JUNE 14: New Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar waves to TD's and well wishers at Leinster House after being elected as Taoiseach on June 14, 2017 in Dublin, Ireland. A vote in the Dail today confirmed Mr Varadkar as Ireland's youngest Taoiseach at the age of 38 and also its first gay leader. Mr Varadkar replaces Enda Kenny as both Fine Gael leader and outgoing Taoiseach after Mr Kenny stepped down yesterday. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) At the invitation of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, a delegation representing bishops and officials from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference have held a two-hour bilateral meeting with ministers in Government Buildings. This was the first such meeting to take place under the Church-State structured dialogue process with Mr Varadkar as Taoiseach.
The agenda for the meeting included: World Meeting of Families 2018 and possible visit by Pope Francis; education issues; the Eighth Amendment and Northern Ireland.
After the meeting Archbishop Eamon Martin said the discussion was constructive and he believed that “regular Church-State dialogue is in the interest of everyone and reflects a truly pluralist society”.