Madam, - Those who defend the current system of National School management have argued that it recognises a diversity of religions. This is a misrepresentation.
The reality is that the Catholic Church has long played a dominant role in the provision of primary education in Ireland. Even today, the vast majority of national schools remain under the control and patronage of the majority church; most others are under the control of minority faiths, and a mere handful have been established on a multi-denominational basis.
Sr Stanislaus, among others, has rightly challenged the sustainability, in an increasingly pluralist society, of a schooling system based upon different rigidly defined religious categories. The recent crisis over primary school places in Balbriggan underlines the urgent need for a fundamental restructuring of our primary school system to ensure equality of access for all children.
It is time for religion to be left outside the school door. - Yours, etc,
IVANA BACIK, Seanad Éireann, Leinster House, Dublin 2.