Sir, – Alan Hynes’s article “A discriminatory law has become a block on the divestment of Catholic schools” (Opinion & Analysis, September 24th) raises concerns about the 2018 Education (Admissions to Schools) Act. From a humanist perspective, this law is an essential step toward a more equitable education system, preventing religious schools from discriminating against children based on their parents’ faith.
The irony of Catholic patrons claiming they are being discriminated against because they can no longer discriminate against non-Catholic children is striking, and the claim that this provision impedes Catholic school divestment misrepresents its purpose. This position suggests that ending their ability to exclude non-Catholic families is itself unjust, when rather than blocking reconfiguration, the Act aims to ensure access for all children to education, regardless of belief. This principle of equal treatment aligns with Ireland’s human rights obligations, promoting diversity in schools without privileging any one religious group.
The Government’s Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity programme commits to delivering 400 multidenominational schools by 2030, a goal which almost certainly will not be achieved. In recent times, only one or two schools divested patronage from the Catholic Church, and the Minister for Education has not published any updates on the progress of the programme, and nor has she set out goals for how it will be achieved.
The Government could fix this problem by removing the quite bizarre process whereby rather than the State using its own decision-making powers, the outputs of a survey of parents within the local communities is used to decide whether or not a school should be divested. This writer is not aware of any other aspects of the Programme for Government where the Government has devolved decision-making in this way.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly called on Ireland to amend laws which act as barriers to ensuring a child’s right to education based on religious or “ethos” grounds. Thus far, the Government appears to have ignored the UN’s recommendations. And it is indeed sad to see a Catholic representative body call for a discriminatory law in this area to be reinstated. – Yours, etc,
JILLIAN BRENNAN,
CEO,
Humanist Association of Ireland,
Dublin 18.