Catholic Bishops will discuss the possibility of relinquishing control of a number of schools at a meeting with Department of Education officials today.Over the past 18 months, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has repeatedly signalled his willingness to let go of schools in areas where the Catholic Church is over-represented.
At present the church controls over 92 per cent of primary schools (3,000 of the total of 3,200) in the State.
Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said it was hoped that an indication of which schools Dr Martin had in mind would be gained at today’s meeting.
The department has written to Dr Martin “on a number of occasions asking him to identify areas where he would like to divest. Hopefully we will get some clear indication of what areas and what schools he has in mind.”
The department hopes the meeting will clarify whether Dr Martin’s views are shared by other church leaders, notably Bishop Leo O’Reilly, chair of the Bishops’ Education Commission.
Dr O’Reilly has been more cautious but a church spokesman played down any divergence of opinion.
Both Dr O’Reilly and Dr Martin are expected to attend today’s meeting with Brigid McManus, secretary general of the department; Frank Wyse, assistant secretary general, and other senior officials.
The department is under pressure to provide a more diverse range of education choice. This pressure has been exacerbated by the Ryan report, which raised awkward questions about Catholic management of schools.
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