The Minister for Education, Mr Martin, has asked a senior UCD academic, Dr Maurice Bric, to prepare an outline brief for the establishment of a Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Such a council, to fund postgraduate research in these areas, was proposed in a Fianna Fail policy document on third level education earlier this year. Mr Martin also emphasised his intention to maintain history as a compulsory subject at Junior Certificate level in secondary and community schools.
Speaking at the launch of three Historical Association of Ireland pamphlets on Wolfe Tone, William Martin Murphy and James Connolly, the Minister said "the idea that children should stop learning about the history of their country and the wider world at 11 or 12 is extraordinary, and I want to enhance the position of history in the curriculum rather than undermine it."