Sir, – Fr Paddy Banville and Pádraig McCarthy (Letters, December 13th) make essentially the same point – that if a child does not miss out on a school place due to the “ethos” of the school, some other criteria must be applied. This may be the case – and I share the sentiment that it is the Minister for Education who needs to address the issue of high demand – but that doesn’t mean that it is therefore acceptable to retain overtly discriminatory, sectarian admission policies.
If they had any integrity, the religious institutions would, of their own volition, be introducing fairer policies rather than padding their numbers through the status quo.
It is a pretty damning indictment of both church and State that otherwise non-religious citizens – taxpayers – feel obliged to mime their way through a baptismal ceremony out of fear for their child’s education. – Yours, etc,
DAVID McGINN,
Mountain Park,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24.