Sir, – Further to Diarmaid Ferriter's article ("Kenny should confront State-funded schools insisting on baptism certificates", Opinion & Analysis, January 24th), the country's national schools are places of diversity and inclusivity. In general, pupils of all races and religious beliefs are not only welcomed but celebrated by the various schools which they attend.
Certainly most primary schools retain and uphold a Catholic ethos, but there is a big difference between having a Catholic ethos and imposing Catholic beliefs on people who have a different faith or none at all.
As a principal I have never looked for a baptismal certificate as a condition of entry to my school. I have, however, requested them prior to pupils making their first confession at the request of the local clergy just to ensure that the first sacrament has been made prior to receiving the second.
The one statistic that Prof Ferriter did not mention was that in the last census in 2011, 84 per cent of the population defined themselves as Roman Catholic.
In my local town, this is borne out by the fact that our local Educate Together school is very much undersubscribed in relation to its large capacity.
I understand that the point of Prof Ferriter’s argument may be the desire for all schools to be secular. This seems to me to be quite a time away but, in the absence of that, our primary schools, in the main, are providing equally for children of all beliefs and none. – Yours, etc,
JOHN KELLY
Bennekerry,
Co Carlow.