Church to lose some school patronages

THE Government has drawn up controversial plans to remove the Catholic Church as the patron of some national schools across the country.

The Department of Education and Skills has recently given the Catholic Church a list of areas in which it wants the hierarchy to divest itself of the patronage of national primary schools.

It is understood that over 30 areas — the majority in the greater Dublin region — have been identified by the department for a change of patronage amid growing calls for greater diversity in educational provision. The Catholic Church is currently patron of approximately 92% of the state’s schools at primary level.

The department has also confirmed that it wrote to the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, last week asking about “the potential for the Church to consider divesting its school patronage” in areas of changing demographic needs.

A spokesperson for the archbishop declined to comment on the issue.

While most of the schools are in the Dublin region, it is believed the department has also identified schools in Athlone, Ballinasloe, Killarney and Tramore for consideration to operate under a new patron.

It is believed the Department of Education has not placed a timeframe on the Church for the completion of the takeover process and it will leave Church authorities to decide which schools in the proposed areas should change patronage.

The Department of Education has acknowledged that the divesting of patronage would start “an intense process” for the Church.

While Church leaders have signalled their willingness to divest themselves of the patronage of some primary schools, it is believed that the proposals may meet strong resistance from parents and local parish organisations in some areas.

Meanwhile, Tánaiste and Minister for Education, Mary Coughlan, announced yesterday a major reform of the process for recognition of new second-level schools.

Ms Coughlan said a new framework would be established which would set out clear criteria on how decisions would be made on the awarding of patronage for new post-primary schools.

The Tánaiste said the greater transparency in decision-making would come as it was forecast that there would be an additional 67,000 second-level students in the state by 2024.

She predicted such demand will be filled by the expansion of a large number of existing facilities combined with the establishment of some new secondary schools.

Although voluntary (religious-run) secondary schools currently account for 390 of the state’s 730 post-primary schools, no new voluntary school has been established since 1992. The Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools said it welcomed the introduction of a transparent process for deciding on the patronage of new facilities given the demand for a diversity of school types.