The Taoiseach has strongly defended the Catholic Church's role in primary school education, saying the State-owned religious communities a great debt of gratitude for its management of schools.
After former PD minister of state Liz O'Donnell on Wednesday called on Catholic Church ownership of almost all primary schools to be "radically addressed", Mr Ahern indicated yesterday that he was happy with the status quo.
On the role of religious in education Mr Ahern said there were 3,200 primary schools in the country of which about 3,000 were owned by the religious communities - the vast majority of these by the Catholic Church.
The State would not be able to manage the schools without the religious, he said, and he believed the State owed a great debt of gratitude to the communities.
Ms O'Donnell had called for an end to the traditional "deference" shown to the Catholic Church and to the "special relationship" between that church and the State.
She said the Ferns clerical sex abuse report had shown the church could not be trusted to tell the truth, that its finances should be fully audited, and that it had got off lightly in the deal on compensating abuse survivors.
However, Mr Ahern said the Catholic Church was an important part of civil society without which Ireland would not have come as far as it had.
Mr Ahern also took issue with Ms O'Donnell's demand that "the cosy phone calls from All Hallows to Government Buildings must end". He said this "could only be" a reference to him.
Addressing the Association of European Journalists yesterday, the Taoiseach said the reference to All Hallows was to the religious community of Vincentians based at All Hallows in his Dáil constituency.
He said: "I am very proud of All Hallows. Yes I do ring All Hallows. I will ring All Hallows, my father has worked in All Hallows or did for half a century. My house is called All Hallows. It is on the lands of All Hallows so I am going to make apologies to nobody including Liz O'Donnell for being in touch with All Hallows."
Mr Ahern said Ms O'Donnell had clearly misunderstood the role of All Hallows in Irish society. Since 1861 the Vincentian community at All Hallows had been involved in the education of young priests but it was for dioceses all around the world.
"Their dioceses were in Newfoundland, mainly America and some in Britain They were always very anxious about their independence and the role that they played as a Vincentian Order and so Liz doesn't obviously know too much about that, so I am very glad to give her a briefing," the Taoiseach said.
Minister for Finance Brian Cowen warned in the Dáil yesterday about the danger of ending dialogue with faith communities, in remarks arising from Ms O'Donnell's demand for a separation of church and State on Wednesday.
Replying to Green Party TD John Gormley in the Dáil, he said: "Under the draft constitutional treaty produced during our presidency, it is the intention of all governments in the European Union to continue legitimate dialogue with faith communities in their societies on the basis of a mature relationship, which we seek with all faiths in this pluralist society.
"It would be thoroughly illiberal if such a dialogue were not to take place."
