A contentious new EU equality directive which allows Irish schools to protect their religious ethos was agreed after representations to the Taoiseach by the four main churches.
Mr Ahern met the church representative on October 2nd to discuss their concerns about the directive, which they viewed as a threat to their schools.
Catholic members of the delegation which met Mr Ahern were Dr Joseph Duffy, Bishop of Clogher, and Father Dan O'Connor, for the Dublin archdiocese. The Church of Ireland was represented by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey, and the church's education officer, Canon John McCullagh. The Rev Sam Hutchinson and Mr George McCullagh represented the Presbyterian Church, with the Rev Harold Good representing the Methodist Church.
They found they were "pushing an open door" in discussing with the Taoiseach their shared concerns about safeguarding denominational education North and South, said the Catholic bishops' spokesman, Father Martin Clarke. He also said the Catholic Church was "pleased" at the outcome of the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue's meeting with the EU presidency on Tuesday.
Mr O'Donoghue got an amendment to the EU directive wording. He said it would preserve the right of denominational schools and hospitals to uphold religious ethos when recruiting.
However, the directive has been described as an "assault on the right to privacy of Irish teachers" by Senator Joe O'Toole, of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation. Yesterday, it was also criticised by other teaching unions.
In response, Mr O'Donoghue said he had been "misrepresented" by Mr O'Toole. He had not stated anywhere that teachers, or anybody else, would be obliged to uphold the ethos of an institution in which they worked.
"What I have consistently stated, however, is that under our Employment Equality Act 1998, under our Equal Status legislation, there is an obligation on an employee not to actively undermine the ethos of the institution in which they are employed. If the directive had been passed as it stood, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind but that an interpretation could have been put on it to the effect that this no longer applied."
Mr Charlie Lennon, general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI), said the directive could allow schools to discriminate against teachers on the grounds of religious belief or practice.