Parents can face a new problem as they try to enrol their children at local schools. Some Catholic schools are seeking evidence of faith, as demand for places outstrips supply. It's the system, not the schools that must change, writes Gráinne Faller

Finding a school for your child can be a difficult process. In areas where there is pressure on school places, the sooner you start looking the better. At least that's what Zoe Quinn thought when she began looking at schools for her daughter.

"There are three national schools in my area," she says. "Two of those are Catholic and one is Church of Ireland. They are all fabulous schools, but there's a huge possibility that my daughter won't get in."

Quinn's daughter has not been baptised. The admissions policies of the schools in her area admit children of their religious denomination before any others. At least one of them prioritises Catholic children from outside its catchment area over other (non-Catholic) children within it.

"We're right down at the end of the list," she says. "There are numbered criteria on which children will be let in. I think we scrape in by about number six."

Quinn's case is not unique. In areas of severe school overcrowding, parents are beginning to realise that a baptismal cert or proof of religion can mean the difference between a child getting into a school and not.

It all depends on a school's admissions policy. Policies vary from school to school. Some prioritise children from a certain area, while others operate on a first come, first served basis. A denominational school, however, can choose to prioritise children who are members of its particular religion, regardless of where they live or how late they register, as long as it sticks to its admissions policy.

While it might sound unfair - especially if, like Quinn, parents have no other options - the schools are within their rights. The Education Act, 1998 allows denominational schools to prioritise some children over others on religious grounds, and there is an exemption for schools within the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004, whereby schools can refuse admission to a student of a different religion in order to preserve the ethos of the school.

Indeed, a memo sent to Catholic schools in 2004 by the former education secretary to the current Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, encouraged the prioritisation of Catholic children in a situation of overcrowding. Some schools decided to follow that advice. Others decided against it.

It has been argued that denominational schools prioritising children of a particular denomination makes sense, but, in a country like Ireland, where often the local Catholic school is the only option, it can create problems.

The National Parents' Council (NPC) often fields calls from parents about this issue. Fionnuala Kilfeather, outgoing chief executive of the council, says: "The assumption has to be made that a school, denominational or not, is a community school. If it is giving clear preference to children of one denomination over other children in the community, I think questions have to be asked."

Of course, in most cases schools, Catholic or otherwise, admit everyone, regardless of religion. Mgr Dan O'Connor, general secretary of the Catholic Primary School Managers' Association (CPSMA), explains: "We have schools where 40 per cent of the school population is not Catholic."

Nonetheless, this does not solve the problem of the lack of choice. Many parents fear their children will feel left out if they don't participate in religious instruction. Others simply want a different, more multi- or non-denominational approach for their children's education.

The odds are against those parents. At the moment, there are 3,279 primary schools in Ireland. Of those, 3,039 are under Catholic patronage; 183 are under the Church of Ireland; 34 multi-denominational; five interdenominational and 19 are under the patronage of other religions.

The 2006 census shows 11 per cent of people stating their religion to be something other than Catholic. Those who stated "no religion" are the biggest minority, and yet almost 99 per cent of our primary schools work within a religious ethos.

This lack of choice affects people in different ways.

Caroline Murphy is from Limerick and has been an atheist all her life. She had her children baptised when they were three and 1½ after realising that her local school wanted a baptismal cert as part of her son's application. Her own experience as an atheist in a Catholic school meant that she didn't want her sons to be different.

People have suggested to Zoe Quinn that she do the same. "I couldn't," she says. "It would be disrespectful to us, but it'd be disrespectful to the church as well."

Shirley O'Shea, a parent from Cork, is a Catholic, as is her husband, but she would prefer to send her children to a multi-denominational school rather than the local Catholic one.

"I'd just like them to have that opportunity," she says.

According to Kilfeather, the issue for the NPC is not whether parents are entitled to choice in education, but rather how it is going to be provided.

An often-ignored point is that the need for greater diversity in school patronage is acknowledged by all parties, including the Catholic Church. New patron bodies that will meet this need are encouraged and welcomed. Dr Martin said last year such a development was desirable, welcome and beneficial to denominational schools.

Tentative steps are being taken to address this issue, and February saw Minister for Education Mary Hanafin announce a new model of patronage for primary schools that will be introduced on a pilot basis in Diswellstown Community National School in Dublin.

The patron of the school will be County Dublin VEC and provision will be made for religious education within the school according to the parents' wishes.

The aim is to provide an option for an area where a traditional patron is not available. The school is due to open in 2008. When making the announcement, Hanafin emphasised that the new model is not intended as a replacement to the existing patrons, but is rather an additional option to be considered where circumstances warrant this type of approach.

She also stressed that other VECs would not be recognised as patrons until the pilot project had been evaluated.

"I'd say the earliest we'll see that model rolled out will be 2010," says Jane McCarthy, development officer for multidenominational school patron body, Educate Together. "The need is there now."

Since Educate Together's emergence in the late 1970s, it has established 41 multidenominational schools and supports a large number of parent start-up groups around the country.

However, despite overwhelming demand, Educate Together has decided that it cannot establish any more schools for the time being. It contends that the current system for establishing schools, by which, in most cases, a patron must set up a school and prove that it is viable before receiving any capital funding for a permanent building, is unworkable.

Educate Together believes that a minimum of 200 multidenominational or similar schools will be needed to provide parents with real choices. It wants the Department of Education to identify the areas where schools will be needed rather than depending on the applications of patrons. A permanent building should be provided and adequate start-up funding is also needed.

So far, multidenominational education has been made possible by the voluntary work of parents and the ability of Educate Together to stretch a small budget. It is now time, they believe, for the department to stop relying on this sort of goodwill. The issue is not just a multidenominational one. It extends to all schools that are set up in this country, but that's another issue.

"There is a need for different options, and it's actually coming largely from within the Irish population," says McCarthy. "Parents want choices."

While they would always defend the right of parents to denominational education for their children, the CPSMA also takes the rights of other parents seriously.

"We wrote to the bishops in 2004 where we proposed a possible model for patronage in which religious instruction could be given to children who want it by qualified catechists," says Mgr O'Connor. "If that could be transposed into the primary school, it might be an option."

Any option would be welcomed by Siobhán O'Grady. She and her family are members of the Church of Ireland in Galway. Her experience with the local school so far has not been ideal.

She explains: "We went in and met the principal, who emphasised to us that the school has a very Catholic ethos. Communion and Confirmation were spoken about as being highlights of the year. We were told that they take up a lot of class time."

When O'Grady asked what her children would do while this was going on, she was told that they could sit at the back of the class and read a book.

"It's the only school available to us and I'm sure it's good, but I'd prefer another option . . . I'm sort of resigned to sending my children there," she says.

Some names have been changed