Patronage forum - Bishops tighten grip on schools

IT WAS almost inevitable that Catholic figures less amenable to change than Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin would adopt positions on school patronage far less compromising than his in advance of this week’s forum on school patronage.

On Wednesday the Department of Education will host the opening session of a forum on school patronage on foot of Education Minister Ruairí Quinn’s suggestion that up to 50% of the primary schools under the control of the Catholic Church should be transferred to other patrons.

The Catholic Church controls more than 90% of the country’s 3,000 primary schools.