New U-turn needed

ONE of the most disturbing things to emerge from the recent budget mess is the decision to stop block grants to Protestant schools. This will result in many of those mainly rural second-level schools having to close in isolated areas where they are very few in number.

The pathetic excuse given by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe was that these grants might be open to legal challenge. Challenged by whom? Hardly Catholic schools like Clongowes, Gonzaga, etc, which also benefit from State largesse. One more U-turn would do no harm.

Brendan Cafferty