When the president of Blackrock College, Co Dublin, recently announced the decision to phase out the boarding school there, parents and past pupils were shocked. They believe that the boarding school is an essential element of the Blackrock ethos - part of the reason they send their sons there.

But while the announcement may have caused consternation amongst parents and alumni, people working in the sector were unsurprised. In recent decades, a large number of schools run by religious orders have made similar decisions. Nowadays, only a handful of schools offering boarding facilities are under the control of Catholic religious. In contrast, boarding schools under Protestant management remain plentiful.

According to figures supplied by the Department of Education and Science for the year 1997-98, 29 schools catered for boarders in this State and more than half of them (16) were under Protestant management. When the Department next updates its figures, the number will have dropped further. The Loreto order closed its last boarding school - Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham - in 1999, while the Dominican College, Newbridge, Co Kildare, is phasing out boarders and Blackrock plans to do so. According to the Department's figures, 23 fee-paying schools cater for both boarders and day pupils. Of these, 16 are co-educational, five are all-boys and two are all-girls. Nine of these are in the Dublin area. Only five of the fee-paying schools were devoted entirely to boarders (and that includes Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham).

Talk to people involved in boarding schools and you get mixed views about their worth and viability. A number of schools contacted by EL simply refused to talk. In those which did, many administrators pointed out that they are oversubscribed and operate long waiting lists. Others, however, admitted that drumming up numbers can be difficult. It's the boarding schools that have refrained from mixing day and boarding students that are really thriving, a source says. Clongowes Wood College, Naas, Co Kildare is an all-boys boarding school with an enrolment of just over 400. Each year, the school, which admits 72 students into first year, is vastly oversubscribed. "We have a waiting list all the way up the school," says the headmaster, Father Dermot Murray. "But there is a downturn in first-year applications, due to demographics."

A spokesperson for the Loreto Order says filling boarding schools wouldn't be a problem. "But there is the question of the validity of the boarding school," she says. "Is it the best place for a young person to grow up in? In the days when travel was difficult, when there weren't as many schools and education was not easily accessible for young people, then boarding schools had their place. But that not's true any more. There are plenty of excellent day schools. "Going away to school for extended periods - it's more like living in a hotel than in your own house. It's unreal. Lifestyles have changed completely. Boarding schools are of the last century and don't suit modern people. You need to be able to provide an appropriate social life and in a large boarding school that's not always possible."

Nowadays, running a boarding school is a costly affair. For a start, you need to employ staff 24 hours, seven days. Keeping buildings open is also expensive. "In schools like ours, even 20 years ago, you would have had at least 25 priests on hand to look after the boarders. Now they are at a premium," notes Patrick O'Mahoney, headmaster of Dominican College. Ironically, the fact that the Protestant-managed schools traditionally employed large numbers of lay staff and provided them with accommodation means that today they are better equipped to employ staff, he points out. "The fact that the school provides accommodation is a huge attraction for young teachers who want to be in Dublin," agrees Diarmuid Kelleher, a teacher at the King's Hospital, Palmerstown, Co Dublin. More than half the staff there live in - 10 with families.

The co-educational nature of Protestant boarding schools is also an advantage in today's environment. Indeed, a growing number of Catholic families are sending their children to Protestant-managed boarding schools. According to headmaster Harald Meyer, up to one third of the 380 boarders at the King's Hospital School are Catholics or other non-Protestants. Meanwhile, Blackrock College alumni have refused to take the recent announcement about the closure of the boarding school lying down. The Blackrock Union has set up a feasibility study group, under the chairmanship of Gerry White, a past-president of the union. If the study proves positive, then the college will reconsider its decision, he says. "Numbers are falling, the cost of boarding is quite high and the buildings need upgrading. Overall, the order [the Holy Ghost Fathers] feels it would be difficult to continue."

According to White, there are currently 170 boarders in the school, which charges annual boarding fees of around £5,400. He believes that a boarding school involving an investment of £5 million could be viable if student numbers were maintained at 175, but fees were increased up to £10,000. "We believe there is a demand for boarding - especially from overseas, if it is properly marketed," he says. Barbara Stanley, the recently appointed principal of Alexandra College, Dublin, has come to Ireland from an independent day and boarding school in England. "Alex" is an all-girls, multidenominational day and boarding school under Protestant management. More than half the 165 boarders are Catholic, she says. "In England, boarding is in decline and schools are looking overseas for foreign students. It's nice to see how buoyant boarding schools are here, and that the schools are catering for the local population."

Nonetheless, the future of the sector remains uncertain. According to the King's Hospital's head, Harald Meyer, boarding fees in Britain are three times those here at home (between £12,000 and £15,000 sterling). Much of the difference, he says, is due to the stringent health and safety regulations that have been introduced there. If such regulations are introduced in this State - and it's highly likely - it will, he says, push the cost of boarding school "out of the roof".