Mick Clifford: Survey on school patronage should be conducted beyond the current crop of parents

Parents of all children up to the age of 12 are being asked to take part in an online survey to determine what kind of patronage they want for their local school. Don’t hold your breath in anticipation of change, writes Mick Clifford

Nearly 90% of the state’s 3,300 primary schools are under a Catholic patronage. This does not reflect the make-up of the population in a secular state. File photo: iStock

This country’s past as a form of a theocracy is still hanging around in a few different guises. One is the daily observance of the Angelus on the national broadcaster. This is an anomaly in a largely secular state, but personally I don’t have a problem with it.

Whenever I happen to be in front of the TV at 6pm, the depiction of various people pausing to observe the call to prayer brings me back to my childhood. My grandmother lived across the road from the cavernous Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church in Cahirciveen.