St Patrick’s College Drumcondra was given a ringing endorsement by
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin last week for the, “extraordinary
contribution,” it has made to Irish people and society through its
graduates.In his address at the inauguration of the new president of the college, Archbishop Martin expressed his appreciation of the work done by the outgoing president, Dr Pauric Travers, and wished the incoming president, the historian Dr Daire Keogh, well in his new role.
“This is a College with a long and proud tradition. It represents in that tradition and history what is best in the broad values and heritage of Catholic education. Its future cannot be separated from what is best in its past,” the Archbishop commented.
In his tribute to the tradition of Catholic education, he also sounded a note of warning, stating that welcoming difference and diversity was not about renouncing tradition.
The heritage of Catholic education, “is something which deserves to be kept alive and flourishing and updated into the future,” Dr Martin said.
He summed up the best of Catholic education as a tradition that can integrate and welcome difference rather than being a divisive force.
“St Patrick’s is an institution which has shown that future teachers from many backgrounds and with a different views of the future can interact in a fruitful and respectful way and can come away enriched by their contact with the gift and the values," of Catholic education Archbishop Martin suggested.
In his address, the Archbishop referred to the present context as, “a vital moment of opportunity which we, as a nation, cannot afford to miss.”
Acknowledging that the financial resources for education are constrained, he suggested that there might be, “a hidden blessing,” in being forced to focus our attention on, “the real value of working together to face challenge and to carve out a more integrated approach in education at all levels, especially at third level and in teacher training.”
Looking to the future, the Archbishop, who is manager of St Patrick’s, said the college is, “determined to develop a special place in the new partnerships which are emerging as a hope for the future.”
He added that St Patrick’s will maintain a special responsibility for training teachers of religious education, not simply in the history or the sociology of religions, but in a conviction that recognises the values that religious education, in the variety of our religious traditions, can bring.
In his address, the new president, Dr Daire Keogh, said St Patrick’s would move ahead with its plans to join with DCU and Mater Dei in creating a new Institute of Education under the umbrella of DCU at Drumcondra.
The plan, which would see the new Institute of Education established on the campus at St Patrick’s College, also involves the Church of Ireland College of Education.
It has come about in response to the Higher Education Authority’s Landscape document that sets out the reformation of teacher training in Ireland.