RUAIRÍ QUINN’S plan to transfer some 50% of Catholic
primary schools to a different model of patronage will prove as fraught
with pitfalls as it may be historic.
The minister will have his work cut
out if he wants to even partially realise his vision during the
lifetime of this Dáil.
Everyone agrees there are too many Catholic schools
to meet current demands.
Dublin‘s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was one of
the first people to raise the issue calling for a forum on future
patronage.
His call was largely ignored by the last government.
Mr Quinn
this week launched such a forum, which he has asked to report as a
matter of urgency.
The current national-school model was
introduced under British rule in 1831 and was intended to be
multi-denominational.
The plan was initially fiercely resisted by the
Catholic hierarchy, which sought the right of Catholic parents to choose
a Catholic education.
Archbishop John MacHale of Tuam — known as the
Lion of the West — feared the system was designed to weaken the faith of
Irish children and usher in Protestant proselytism through the back
door.
However, the fact that the population was overwhelmingly Catholic
ensured that most schools were de facto Catholic.
Today, the
local Catholic bishop is patron of some 90% of primary schools and in
charge of appointing teachers and setting the ethos of the school.
That
figure has remained substantially unchanged despite significant
demographic shifts.
The data from Census 2006 shows that the number of
people identifying as non-religious is now at 186,318, up from just
1,107 in 1961 and up a third since 2001.
This figure will certainly
increase further — possibly at a much higher rate — when this month’s
census returns are available.
At the same time Islam is set to top more
than 50,000 adherents in this latest census while other minority
religions are increasingly dramatically.
That being said, the
Catholic community remains a significant bloc. Some 87% of Irish people
self-identify as Catholic, and even allowing for lower practise rates
about 46% of Catholics attend Mass weekly, with the figure rising to
almost 60% on a monthly basis.
Based on these figures Mr
Quinn’s ambition of half of Catholic schools changing hands seems
optimistic, at least in the short-term.
The Catholic
hierarchy, largely spurred on by Archbishop Martin’s experience of some
Catholic schools in his own diocese, where Catholics are in the
minority, is in favour of at least some divestment.
But tensions are
already emerging and the gulf between Dublin and other dioceses may well
widen.
Bishop Leo O’Reilly, whose Kilmore Diocese covers largely rural
Cavan and Leitrim, recently said: "I can understand Archbishop Martin’s
concern around patronage being in a very large urban setting where in
some schools there would be a small minority of children from families
who practise the Faith. It’s somewhat different in other areas "where
the majority of students would still be from families where the faith is
practised regularly".
Tellingly, the Catholic Communications
Office was unable to provide a spokesman to discuss the issue on RTÉ’s
Morning Ireland last week, indicating that a common Church policy may
still be some way off.
Even where Church leaders are keen to
press ahead quickly with divestment they are sure to face local
resistance in at least some areas.
Where a transfer is proposed how will
local views be ascertained?
If a local vote is taken and is, say, split
60%-40% in favour of divestment, will the 40 opposed have to move their
children to remaining Catholic schools in neighbouring parishes?
The
situation may be easier in a parish where there are several Catholic
schools.
But what about where there is only one local school?
Church leaders privately admit that they want to retain a scenario
where every parish in the country continues to have at least one
Catholic school.
Property rights will also emerge as an
issue.
At present, local Catholic schools are owned by the parish priest
and are leased on a long-term basis by the state.
If a school merges
with another nearby school, thus vacating the building, the state
expects the local parish to reimburse the exchequer for the outstanding
years of the lease already paid.
Given the Constitution’s strong
emphasis on the right to private property the Supreme Court is likely to
strike down any deal that would see the state take over parish property
without compensation at market value.
Schools are also
government by very strict criteria laid down by the Charity
Commissioners on what they can and can’t do with property that becomes
surplus to requirement.
What will become of schoolteachers in
schools due to be transferred to a different patron but who oppose the
move?
Will they be forced to transfer to another school?
One can almost
hear solicitors sharpening their pencils already in anticipation of the
steady procession to the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
So, when
the forum inevitably reports that there are too many Catholic schools
to meet current demand changing that situation — headaches and all —
will be a long way off.
- Michael Kelly is Deputy Editor of The Irish Catholic.