'They are the future politicians, teachers, lawyers and doctors of Ireland. It's very compatible for them to be Muslims and Irish.' So says Mohammed Djimani, manager of the Muslim National School in Clonskeagh, Co Dublin. Louise Holden on a school where demand for places is outstripping supply

It has a waiting list of 118 students for just 35 places each year. Seventy five per cent of junior infants at the school do not speak English as their first language. It has the highest ratio of foreign migrant workers of any school in Ireland. The Muslim National School in Clonskeagh, while mono-denominational, is probably the most multicultural primary school in Ireland.

While non-Muslims can, in theory, attend the school, principal Colm McGlade says that no one from outside the Islamic community has ever applied. If a non-Muslim child did come to Clonskeagh, however, he would find much in common with other schools.

The 16 teachers here come from a range of backgrounds (none of the full-time staff is from the Islamic community) and the curriculum followed is the same as in every other national school in the country.

Established with just 41 pupils and two teachers in 1990, the Muslim national school in one of only two Islamic primary schools in Ireland, both of which are in Dublin. There are no Muslim secondary schools. According to the 2002 census, there are 19,147 Muslims in Ireland - that figure has doubtless grown in the intervening years. Very few of these families get the option of sending their children to a Muslim faith school.

While the pupils in Clonskeagh come from all over the world, about one-third of the mothers of the children are Irish. Over 20 countries are represented in the school - all North African countries, Arabian Gulf countries, Somalia, Pakistan, South Africa, Bosnia, Scotland, Nigeria, Sweden, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Palestine, India, and the Philippines.

The most difficult aspect of schooling such a diversity of children is, predictably, finding a common language. Some children come to the school with only their mother tongue and are expected, from the first day of junior infants, to get going on English, Irish and Arabic. It's a daunting prospect for an English-speaking teacher to face a class of 24 children, 18 of whom don't speak English as a first language.

The Department of Education provides schools with one language support assistant for every 14 non-English speaking pupils, but that allowance is capped at two. Colm McGlade estimates that there are 200 children at the school who need language support.

Of course, learning a language is easier through immersion, and the school makes a big effort to network with other groups in the community through extra-curricular activities. However, these efforts are thwarted by the three o'clock exodus that sees two-thirds of the pupils take buses to their homes around the city.

McGlade claims to have made some inroads into the community in recent years. "We now take the children swimming in a local swimming pool and some of the pupils are involved in playing Olympic handball against other schools in the district. We also won the under-12 boys' relay race in a local competition in 2004." Overall, however, it's difficult for children to take part in extra-curricular and local activities when many have so far to travel home. The Muslim national school is a community school for a community that spans the county.

"There is a long waiting list for places at this school, so we are hoping to expand over the coming years," says McGlade. However, there is limited room for expansion at the Clonskeagh premises.

Many children from the Islamic community in Ireland attend Catholic or Church of Ireland national schools and get their religious and cultural training at part-time Islamic schools at the weekend. Such children do not enjoy the benefits of timetabled days off for Ramadan holidays and other Muslim festivals.

Non-standard timetabling at the Clonskeagh school is another reason why McGlade is not expecting an influx of admissions from non-Muslim children any time soon.

Children from third class up perform midday (Duhr) prayer during the school day in the mosque. On Friday (Jummah) the children from third class up attend the congregational prayer. Eight days are taken at the end of Ramadan and continue through Eid-ul-Fitr. Five days are taken for Eid-al-Adha. The school also closes for national and bank holidays. Holidays at other times are reduced to make sure that Department of Education requirements on the length of the school year are met.

The only staff at the school is from the Islamic community, isa small group of part-time teachers who come to the school to teach timetabled classes in Arabic and Koran studies. Teaching in a school like this involves at great deal of cultural awareness on the part of all teachers, however, especially when aspects of the curriculum clash with the religious ethos of the pupils.

"The textbooks being produced for the primary curriculum are more pluralist than in the past," says McGlade. "Occasionally however, we do encounter clashes with Islamic values. Our teachers are sensitive to this and will omit content when necessary. You must remember, a lot of the children here are Irish Muslims and will spend the rest of their lives here. The Ireland represented in textbooks and the curriculum is their country too."

While the teaching of religious studies is the responsibility of five part-time specialists at the school, the full-time staff teach the universal Social, Personal and Health Education course, including the Stay Safe programme.

The staff body also comprises six special-needs assistants, as the school has an inclusive ethos and has recently enrolled a number of children with disabilities.

The teaching and learning of Irish at the Muslim national school is less of a challenge than expected. "Many Irish parents have a negative attitude towards Irish because of the way they were taught it in school," explains McGlade. "The parents of these children rarely display the same prejudices."

Mohammad Djimani, current chairman of the school, believes that many pupils and their parents view the learning of Irish as a badge of honour. "Our children take pride in learning Irish and like to show off what they have learned. Irish is much closer to Arabic than English is, so children who speak Arabic at home are more comfortable with the guttural pronunciations of Irish. In fact we have noticed many similarities between Arabic culture and Irish culture, especially in traditional Irish music and Irish sports."

Since the dissolution of the board of management of the school last autumn under a shadow of controversy, there have been efforts to reassemble the body before the end of the school year. McGlade dismisses any reports of behind-the-scenes intrigue and claims that the board was dissolved by the patron with the approval of the Minister for Education after the board had experienced difficultites. The new board will include representatives of school patron Imam Yaha Al Hussein, teachers, parents and nominees of the board's core members, including the principal.

As news of the dissolution hit the papers last year, the school was preparing for its first Whole School Evaluation (WSE). Given the media focus on the school at the time, and the recent investigation of the city's only other Muslim school for alleged timetable infringements (the Muslim national school in Cabra was last year accused of giving too much teaching time to religious studies), the stakes on the WSE for Clonskeagh were raised.

"We are bound by the same legislation as every other national school in the country and our Whole School Evaluation report was very favourable," says McGlade. "We have good discipline in the school, solid discipline policies, open admission policies and a strong parents association. We deliver as full a curriculum as anyone and the WSE report reflected that.

"There are some who say to me that the model ofdenominational schooling is not good for children and that they are better off in a mixed environment. That's a choice for parents to make. It's important that there are schools like ours in Ireland so that every parent has that choice."

"The children in this school are Irish Muslims," says school manager Djimani. "They are the future politicians, teachers, lawyers and doctors of Ireland. It's very compatible for them to be Muslims and Irish and to contribute to the growth of Ireland economically and culturally. Islam is the message of peace. The message we teach the children is that our aim for them is to live in peace and harmony as Irish citizens in an Irish society."

Profile: The Muslim National School, Clonskeagh, Dublin

Number of students: 275 Around 200 of the students at the school do not speak English as a first language.

Admissions: The school has an open admissions policy and has a waiting list three times larger than its intake.

Catchment: Pupils come from all over Dublin - seven private buses service the school each day.

Number of teachers: 16 full-time teachers (none of whom come from the Islamic community) and five part-time specialist teachers who take classes in Arabic and Koran studies.

Curriculum: The standard Revised Primary Curriculum including Social, Personal and Health Education and Irish. Teachers use standard textbooks and resources.

Destination schools: There is no Muslim secondary school in Ireland - students last year went to a range of schools including St Benildus, Oatlands, Our Lady's Grove and St Raphaela's.

Timetabling: Prayers, Koran studies and Arabic are timetabled in with the standard primary syllabuses.