Labour to seek cross-party support for schools Bill

The Labour Party has proposed a Bill to make it easier for parents to send their children to local schools, irrespective of their religion.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin and education spokeswoman Joan Burton said they would seek the support of Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin for the Bill when it is debated in the Dáil on Tuesday. A vote will take place on Thursday.

However, party figures acknowledged that the Bill proposes only limited change in the power of Catholic schools to give priority to Catholic children in their admission policies.

“It’s not an earth-shattering change,” said Mr Howlin.

The Bill proposes that a school would have to admit children from its own catchment area ahead of those from another area, regardless of their religion.

Catchment area

However, schools would still be entitled to give preference to catholic children ahead of non-Catholic children from their catchment area – which in most cases is the Catholic parish, or group of parishes.

Ms Burton said that some parents feel obliged to have their children baptised in order to gain access to their local school. “That’s not fair,” she said. But she admitted that the Labour proposal would not “solve all the problems.”

Labour Senator Aodhán Ó Riordáin said there would be constitutional problems with preventing Catholic schools from giving preference to Catholic children entirely. Labour sources also said that outlawing all religious-based preferences would have serious consequences for Church of Ireland schools.