The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin the Rev Dr Michael
Jackson has confirmed that a large majority of full-time staff and
students at the Church of Ireland college of education in the Republic
are drawn from the Roman Catholic community. Archbishop Jackson told his Church’s general synod that the spirit of the college of education in Dublin recognises its “pivotal public role” as a state institution in which the values and aspirations of the Church of Ireland for society at large are afforded central place.
“They shape the learning environment for all who contribute to its life and educational input and output,” he said, speaking during the synod’s education debate.
The bishop confirmed that 85 per cent of full-time staff at the college are members of the majority Roman Catholic community in the Republic, as are 75 per cent of the students admitted to the courses in the college each year.
“This has long been the case and ought to be no surprise to any member of our general synod,” he said. “Both groups are attracted by and contribute to its Anglican ethos of open inclusion, critical inquiry and compassionate service of others irrespective of race, gender, creed or denomination. It is not, nor can it ever be, a place of tribal identity. It is first and last a place which is a community of respect and of generosity of spirit. The excellence of what the Church of Ireland college of education is and what it does is well attested and well documented. The members of the staff of the college are a treasured component and integral to the life of the college. They show impressive and sustained commitment to all students.”
Dr Jackson, the former bishop of Clogher, said he personally considered that ethos very important and precious.
But he said it is always in danger of being diminished and taken for granted.
He said: “Ethos is a series of living relationships. These relationships express a commitment of appropriate care to other members and also to the world outside.”
The general synod also heard a warning that 60 per cent of church schools in the Republic would have to close if a recommendation that a minimum school role of 80 pupils and four teachers is accepted by the Irish government.
Appeals were made for this recommendation to be resisted.
It was pointed out that Protestant Church of Ireland secondary level schools only existed in 13 of the 26 counties in the Republic.
Nineteen of the 23 schools at this level charged fees.