Sir, – Fr John Joe Duffy’s notion that Church of Ireland schools should be given special “minority” protection and exempted from education cuts is superficially “pluralistic” (April 4th).
Educational provision in southern Ireland is dominated historically by the Roman Catholic Church, but is justified on the basis that Protestants get their fair (or in this case unfair) share. Since Protestants tend to be more “dispersed”, extra State funding is required to maintain smaller schools. This is so as to avoid educating small children from different branches of the Christian religion in the same room (perish the thought). In this way the sectarian status quo is maintained.
There might be less dispersion today (and more Protestants) had the Roman Catholic Church’s ne temere decree not forced Protestants married to Catholics to promise to bring up children as Catholics. Protestant communities might not have felt the same need for institutional isolation. The resultant separation puts clerical gentlemen in both religious communities in positions of authority on matters unrelated to belief. It also sends arguments about funding education down a sectarian cul de sac.
Perhaps I am being unfair. People with no religious affiliation are, according to census figures, a bigger group than the Church of Ireland. If his approach is logical, Fr Duffy might make a case for State funding of atheist schools, with additional resources taking account of the widely scattered nature of this educationally deprived community.
The State’s responsibility is to run schools with an educational, not a religious, ethos. We can oppose cuts and support small schools in that context. – Yours, etc,