Sir, – The Rev Patrick Burke(August 31st) – yet again – tells your readers that "there is little demand for non-denominational education".
If there is any lack of demand, it is likely to be a reflection of many parents’ sense of powerlessness in seeking a secular education for their children. He knows perfectly well that some of those parents are religiously observant; and that Church of Ireland schools – rightly or wrongly – are seen as a religion-lite alternative by those who have no access to secular schools. He would defend the special position of the minority of which he is a representative, without, it seems, acknowledging the irony that he wants no special position to be afforded to another group – secularists – which, he is determined to tell us, constitutes a minority.
Everyone knows that the State is hamstrung by an inherited system that no one in their right mind would invent now. In the end, of course, this is about power. – Yours, etc,
Rev RUPERT MORETON,
Joensuu,
Finland.
Sir, – Michael Nugent’s opinion piece, read in conjunction with the report on the current difficulties around the “divestment” of an isolated, derelict, former Catholic school in Mayo (“Educate Together national school in Mayo fails to open amid row”, August 27th), illustrate perfectly the unmanageable, unfair and ultimately downright wasteful nature of the solution that the Government has embarked upon in an effort to provide for pluralism in Irish schools.
The attitude seems to be to do anything to avoid getting rid of the patronage system, no matter how archaic, discriminatory and expensive it is proving to be.
It is time for the authorities to wake up and do their duty by all citizens in this regard and, at the same time, stop wasting taxpayers’ money. – Yours, etc,
SEAMUS McKENNA,
Windy Arbour,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – Fr Brendan Hoban is quoted in “Priest says demand for secular schools is low” (August 25th) as saying Atheist Ireland should “build their own schools, propose their own curriculum, fundraise and all the rest of it”. This fundamentally misses the key issue of schools divided along sectarian lines. The solution to religious discrimination and sectarian division is not still more of the same. The solution is to treat all children equally with regard to respect and access to education.
In addition he repeats the mantra that “the experience from parishes was that after spending money buying sites, building schools and fundraising to develop facilities”, parishes had “no intention of handing over their local school to anyone”.
Perhaps he could back this up with some numbers of funding that the church has supplied to buy, build and run schools over recent years. It would be useful to compare this against the funding that has gone into these schools by the State and parents associations.
All existing boards of management have to do is amend their ethos to allow for equality for all children and for bishops to give up the right to automatic control of key positions that they get essentially for free. – Yours, etc,
ANDREW DOYLE,
Bandon,
Co Cork.