Sir, – I am not a member of the Humanist Association of Ireland, or any other "avowedly non-religious body", so I beg the indulgence of CDC Armstrong (Letters, March 27th) if I "whinge yet again about preference being given by church schools to baptised children". I am merely a deeply concerned citizen and parent to a pre-school child.
Mr Armstrong is satisfied that a poll for The Irish Times – indicating that, while 93 per cent of parents with young children have them baptised, only one third pray with them or take them to mass regularly – is evidence that "levels of religious practice in Ireland remain high by western European standards" and that "Catholicism is still strong in terms of affiliation and participation". My interpretation of the figures is very different.
A significant number of my friends and family members have had children baptised because the State makes specific provision in section 7 of the Equal Status Act 2000, for the exclusion of unbaptised children from church-run schools. Virtually the entire Irish primary school system is church-run – thus, the system caters solely for one-third of parents.
But really, talk of numbers and percentages is merely a smokescreen. When something is wrong it is wrong, regardless of how many are affected. I have religious friends and every one of them can see that the system of patronage in Irish primary schools is disgraceful. Meanwhile there are friends with unbaptised pre-school children who live with uncertainty as to whether the State will provide access to education for their children. The little ones are second-class citizens.
Mr Armstrong seems to suspect a conspiracy of “organised irreligion” but every citizen of this country who values democracy, those of all religions and none, should be outraged at the fact that this State continues to actively encourage in legislation discrimination against children guilty of nothing but seeking an education, a right under Article 42 of the Constitution, and parents trying to fulfil their obligations in that regard. – Yours, etc, PADDY MONAHAN Raheny, Dublin 5.