THE LABOUR Party has welcomed comments by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, on the need to review the role of the Catholic Church in primary education in the State. Party spokesman on education Ruairí Quinn said “the Taoiseach and Minister for Education should take up the archbishop’s suggestion of the establishment of a national forum on education to explore the many issues that have to be resolved.’’
A spokesman for Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said yesterday the Minister had hosted a major conference on governance challenges for future primary school needs at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, in Dublin last June, at which the Dr Martin had been a keynote speaker.
He also pointed out that at a meeting in late 2007, senior officials of the department met the archbishop to discuss statements he had made about possible divesting of the patronage of primary schools in the archdiocese.
The archbishop agreed to contact the department in any case where the archdiocese was considering the feasibility of such a transfer, he said. “To date, no such cases have been referred to the department,’’ he said.
In his address to the Irish Primary Principals Network (Dublin Network) on Tuesday night, Dr Martin said “it is clear that a system in which 92 per cent of all primary schools is managed by the Catholic Church in a country where the Catholic population is 87 per cent is certainly not tenable. This is not something that I say this evening for the first time.’’
He said “the Catholic school will only be able to carry out its specific role if there are viable alternatives for parents who wish to send their children to schools inspired by other philosophies’’.
Possibilities included “an appropriate number of such schools within broad catchments areas which would include other patron models”, to accommodate parents’ wishes. “Another possibility is . . . of a predominantly State-managed system with the possibility for religious instruction within the school,’’ he said.
There was “a need to move forward with a new vision’’. This would necessitate “a process which should be protracted over a period of years by open consultations’’.
Dr Martin believed “we need to work towards a national forum on the future of education, with public debate which involves the widest possible consultation with all interested groups, beginning with parents, and involving teachers and teacher organisations, the educational community, political parties, management and patron bodies.
“The leadership belongs in this area to government, but government should ensure that the true feelings of parents are fully listened to and respected,’’ he said.
In his response, Mr Quinn said that, as Dr Martin had indicated, the “legacy of history no longer meets the reality of modern Ireland. Nor does it allow the Catholic Church to genuinely develop its own role as one of six patron groups in the country,” he said. “The others are the Protestant churches, the Muslim community, the Gaelscoileanna movement, Educate Together and recently the VEC sector.’’
Labour fully supported the archbishop’s proposal, he said. “Labour is committed to the establishment of a genuine pluralism in our school system that would enable parents to make the choice they want for their children in so far as that is possible.’’
He called on the Government “to show courage and leadership by establishing the education forum without delay’’.
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