A Government decision not to accept a report on small schools is good news for rural Ireland but its political handling is bad administration, says Education Correspondent Niall Murray

The board of the former Cork County VEC received nearly six times more in payments and expenses than its city counterparts in the five years prior to the amalgamation of the two organisations, correspondence to the Public Account Committee has revealed.

The views of more than 350 parents are being assessed in the formation of government policy on how Catholic schools should cater for children of other beliefs and traditions.

A small number of Catholic schools may transfer to new patrons later this year but the Department of Education expects others to follow suit in greater numbers over the next few years.

Catholic schools are not undermining literacy and numeracy to prioritise teaching religion, the head of their representative body has said.

Joe Lyons could not have been more pleased to hear about a school maintenance fund being restored after discovering a leaking roof when pupils returned from their mid-term break this week at Ballybrown National School outside Limerick City.

First they embraced social media. Now they’re going green.

A prominent Catholic priest has described the sale of ‘Jesus costumes’ in a Halloween costume store as “distasteful, offensive, and unacceptable”.

CHURCH of Ireland Bishop of Cork Paul Colton has called for a review of the legislation governing the setting up of VECs after a controversial vote saw a Church of Ireland nominee dumped off the Cork VEC committee.

ONE of Ireland’s biggest property developers was given a blank sheet yesterday to draw up plans for a Cork secondary school which closed this year.

MOST Reverend John Buckley, Bishop of Cork and Ross, has announced a number of changes to appointments of priests in the diocese.