THE Government was yesterday urged to rethink its decision to cut grants to Protestant secondary schools in the Republic.The Royal Black Institution said it planned to follow the Orange Order and meet the Government and opposition leaders to raise concerns at the cuts.
Senior Protestant clergy in the Republic, plus a cross-section of political parties in the North, have joined government critics in attacking the plans to remove grant aid historically offered to 21 fee-paying Protestant schools.
The schools said the €2.8m funding was needed to help maintain the relatively small sector, and to help support pupils from less well-off families.
Yesterday the Royal Black Institution said: "Many of our members and of the wider public believe this policy has sectarian undertones and discriminates against the minority population in the Republic of Ireland.
"We call on the Government to put in place a funding system that restores the confidence of the Protestant population before it is too late and schools have to close.
"This attack on the Protestant ethos is totally unwarranted and must be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
Fears
"To do otherwise would be to confirm the worst fears of the Protestant community that it is not regarded as an important part of the Republic of Ireland."
Protestant secondary schools -- apart from the state's five Protestant comprehensives -- were removed from the free education scheme, after more than 40 years, last year.
Under the move, ancillary grants which were considered critical -- such as caretaker and secretarial expenses -- were ended.
The campaign to have the grants reinstated has been supported by Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin and Catholic think-tank the Iona Institute.
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SIC: II