Despite the broadly held view of Ireland being largely a Catholic
country with an education system dominated by the Catholic Church, the
Republic today does not have a Catholic University.
In response to the
publication earlier this year of the Hunt Report, a government-initiated
strategy paper focusing on the future of higher education in Ireland,
Dr. Peader Cremin, president of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick,
makes the case for a Catholic University on the island.
In an article in October 2008, I raised the question of the need for a
Catholic university in Ireland. It may be time to consider again the
value of amalgamating the existing Catholic institutions into a federal
university, as happened in Australia where a number of Catholic
institutions came together to form the Catholic University of Australia.
The National Strategy (Hunt Report) argues that there is “significant
potential for institutional collaboration on a North-South basis to
advance cross-border regional development and strategically advance
Irish higher education on an all-island basis.”
A Catholic university for all of Ireland should include St. Mary’s
College in Belfast for strategic and cultural reasons, as well as for
financial ones. In this context, the National Strategy contains a rather
cryptic statement that should not be ignored by the Colleges of
Education when it states that there may be a case for facilitating “the
evolution of some existing institutes following a process of
consolidation, into a form of university that is different in mission
from the existing Irish universities.”
Clearly, a Catholic University
would have a mission very different to that of the existing Irish
universities.
Given the numbers coming through Catholic schools at primary and
post-primary levels a Catholic university would have a mission very
different to that of the existing Irish universities. Given the numbers
coming through Catholic schools at primary and post-primary levels, it
is extraordinary that Irish Catholics have to emigrate if they wish to
study at a Catholic university.
It is difficult to explain to people outside of Ireland why, in what
is perceived as a very Catholic country, it is not possible to study
business, law, engineering, science or medicine in a Catholic
university. Is it appropriate that the Catholic community entrusts the
crucial formation of all of these professions to the State?
The Catholic community in Ireland has never been in greater need of
effective intellectual leadership, especially among the laity, than it
has been in recent years. In other countries, those graduating from
Catholic universities offer this voice. This option is not available in
Ireland which consequently lacks the powerhouse for the formation of
intellectual leadership and for the promotion of intellectual discourse
in a clear and unapologetic manner that is essential in an increasingly
secularized Ireland.
This lack of choice in Irish higher education is rarely, if ever,
commented on in the national media and is nowherementioned in the
National Strategy for Higher Education (Hunt Report).
It will be
interesting to see if the gap generated by the absence of a
well-educated and informed lay faithful will be identified as a weakness
by the Apostolic Visitation which has been charged by the Holy Father
with finding ways of contributing to the desired spiritual and moral
renewal of the Church in Ireland.
Some months ago, the then tánaiste and Minister for Education Mary
Coughlan engaged in a high-profile trip, along with a large group of
representatives of Irish educational institutions, to the United States
for the purpose of promoting Ireland as an attractive study destination
for third-level study.
No representative of any Catholic college was invited to participate
in the visit, despite the fact that Catholic colleges, such as Boston
College and the University of Notre Dame, are among the most highly
desired institutions in the USA.
An entire chapter of the National Strategy is devoted to
“Internationalizing Higher Education,” extolling the benefits of
attracting more international students into Ireland.
The Report states that “Ireland has unique strengths that potentially
provide us with a competitive advantage in becoming a leading centre of
international education. We are a small, safe and friendly country. Our
people are renowned for strengths in innovation, creativity and
collaboration. We are a member of the European Union, and have extensive
global links through our diaspora.
“We are an English-speaking country with a unique cultural heritage.
We have an education system that has had a long history of international
engagement and which is globally respected”
There is no reference to the niche that a Catholic University might
represent or to the attractions for members of the diaspora in coming to
study at a Catholic institution in their ancestral homeland.
The clarity with which the State has set out its stall is to be
welcomed in that no-one can now say that they did not know that the
Catholic (and Church of Ireland) institutions had been served with a
potential death sentence.
Despite the comfort that our Constitution
seems to offer, it is arguable that the State and its agencies are set
on a path that will see the demise of faith-based institutions at third
level.
The State plan now needs to be countered by a vision and a strategy,
setting out the goals for Catholic higher education in Ireland over the
same twenty year period to 2030.
In the current situation, the entire Catholic community will need to
consider the importance of a Catholic presence in the higher education
sector.
Those in leadership positions in the various colleges that are
under threat will have to address their vision for the future of those
institutions.
The staff of these institutions will need considerable support if
they are to be saved from the worries that come when fundamental issues,
such as employment status and job security, are questioned.
The hierarchy, already under siege for other reasons, will need to
give an appropriate level of attention to planning for the future of
Catholic higher education.
Clearly, the Council for Education of the
Irish Episcopal Conference needs to be tasked with presenting its vision
for this field at the earliest possible stage.
Ultimately, the future of Catholic education will depend on
resourcing.
If the State pulls the rug and withdraws all funding from
Catholic Colleges, what alternative funding streams can be put in place?
In other jurisdictions, significant levels of endowment help guarantee
employment, research and scholarship in Catholic Universities.
To date, no institution in Ireland, Catholic or otherwise, has
managed to raise the kind of money that is required in order to give
financial security and independence to any university.
At a time when
the State is effectively bankrupt and in the control of the European
Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, it is difficult to see
where the kind of funding needed for this purpose can be raised.
Ireland does not show evidence of the kind of philanthropic culture
that might support an initiative to build a Catholic University.
The Irish diaspora, especially in the United States has considerable
expertise in this field.
Many significant American universities have
grown out of the seeds planted (and money given) by emigrants who wanted
to ensure that their children would have the option of a Catholic
education.
Members of the diaspora, particularly those who continue to cherish
and value the faith that they took as a gift from Ireland are ready to
“give back.”
During the past century, very large numbers of Irish
priests and religious have contributed to the strength of the Catholic
faith and of Catholic education in the USA.
But there are many other
ways in which we might engage with the diaspora to our mutual benefit.
Creating a Catholic University in Ireland, where the sons and daughters
of the diaspora could return to study, could have considerable appeal,
as well as being financially beneficial.
In recent years, many people from the worlds of business, banking and
other fields, have given generously to foundations attached to the
State universities.
In the future, those people will need to reconsider
where such gifts are going.
If they are committed Catholics, it is
reasonable to suggest that they may need to consider prioritizing
gifts in support of Catholic higher education.
In fact, if the vision of
a Catholic University is to take wings, every diocese, every parish and
every committed Catholic will need to subscribe to this idea.
Second collections at Masses, church gate giving, covenants, bequests
and legacies in favor of Catholic foundations, such as the Mary
Immaculate College Foundation, will need to become the norm.
The vision
set out in this paper may seem hopelessly optimistic at this time of
financial gloom and depression. The idea of a Catholic university for
Ireland is undoubtedly challenging.
But it is in the nature of our faith
that we believe that it is possible to build the kingdom and to
construct a better future.
There is no force greater than an idea whose
time has come.