Siege mentality on schools will only harm Protestant children

In tendering her resignation this week as principal of St Patrick’s National School in Greystones, Co Wicklow, Eileen Jackson has stood up for Christianity in the face of tribalism.

In her email to parents, she said the board of the school seemed to be making admission to the State-funded school “a collateral benefit of parochial engagement”.

She said this ran counter to the Church of Ireland’s mission to “embrace diversity in the furtherance of the Church of Ireland’s core values of freedom of conscience, tolerance and inclusivity.”