A row over the funding of Protestant schools by the state has escalated, with education minister Batt O’Keeffe refusing to meet the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork over the issue.O’Keeffe told fellow TDs at a parliamentary party meeting that he was refusing a request from Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan to meet Bishop Paul Colton.
Several sources have said that O’Keeffe had said: ‘‘I can tell you now I won’t be meeting the man."
O’Keeffe also read out statements from a speech by Bishop Colton last month that he considered were personal attacks on him and were ‘‘untrue and unfair’’, sources said.
In the speech, Bishop Colton accused O’Keeffe of ‘‘hiding behind secret advice’’ given to him on the constitution; of ‘‘choosing not to hear’’ and of not telling the truth about the engagement with the Bishops.
O’Keeffe told the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting that contrary to the bishop’s claim of hiding behind secret advice, he had told the Dáil last month about the position regarding advice from the Attorney General on schools’ funding and of the relevant article of the constitution.
A spokesman for O’Keeffe declined to comment on the remarks on grounds that the discussions took place at a private Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting.’
‘Our preference would be to work constructively together with the Protestant community.'
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