Several prominent Christian Brothers' schools have experienced a sharp fall in pupil numbers, according to new enrolment figures from the Department of Education.
Well-known Dublin schools such as Synge Street, O'Connell's Secondary School and St Joseph's in Fairview, have experienced significant reductions in enrolments, a trend which has worsened in recent years. There have also been falls in Christian Brothers' schools in Cork, Waterford and Offaly, according to the figures for 2001/2002.
There has been a reduction in the school-going population across the second-level system, but the falls at some of the Christian Brothers' schools are among the largest recorded by the Department of Education.
For example, Synge Street school, which was attended by Gay Byrne, is down to 303 pupils from 631 a decade ago. O'Connell's school on North Richmond Street has gone from 915 pupils a decade ago to 416 now. St Vincent's CBS in Glasnevin is down from 533 to 350.
Some Christian Brothers' schools have managed to buck the trend, particularly schools which use Irish. Schools on the southside of Dublin, such as the fee-paying CBC Monkstown and Coláiste Eoin in Stillorgan, have managed to increase their pupil numbers slightly in recent years.
The order, whose original mission was to provide education to poorer boys, now faces intense competition, particularly in the cities, from a range of schools, including vocational and community schools. On the southside of Dublin, there has been a major move towards fee-paying schools, while on the northside Christian Brothers' schools face competition from vocational, community and comprehensive schools.
The order yesterday denied that recent negative publicity had anything to do with declining numbers. "I deny that totally. It is simply not true," said Mr Ferdia Kelly, of the order's education office (St Mary's Province). He said the schools in the inner city of Dublin had simply retracted as families moved out to the suburbs.
"These schools used to provide an education to boys all the way out to west Dublin and elsewhere. Those communities now have their own schools," he said. He said declining numbers was a phenomenon facing all school types, not just the Christian Brothers.
Christian Brothers' schools have become more laicised in recent years and there are now only a handful of Christian Brothers in senior positions in most schools. Some of the order's schools are extremely small. For example, CBS Westland Row now only has 118 pupils, while St Paul's in North Brunswick Street is down to 264 pupils.
Some of the schools are picking up extra pupils because of the influx of asylum-seekers and non-nationals in the Republic, particularly in the centre of Dublin. O'Connell's school in Dublin's north inner city has about 100 non-nationals among its student body at present.