Working paper country note: ireland kathleen lynch - ESRI

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Act repealed legislation dating back to 1878. The 1878 Act had banned the teaching of religion in second-level schools for exam purposes (Flynn, 2005). 4. Conclusion The establishment of a state-aided national school system by the British administration in Ireland, in the nineteenth century, led to the development of the highly denominational primary school system that currently exists. Since that time, Government legislation and continued state-aid, has served to consolidate the denominational character of the Irish primary (national) school system. Today, therefore, the churches, and in particular the Roman Catholic Church, exercise significant control over schools in terms of ownership, management and administration. This is exemplified in the power and control that a religious patron of a school exercises over the management structure of the school, the appointment of teaching staff in that school, religious curriculum in the school, and the religious ethos that both permeates the school day and informs admission and enrolment policies in a school. Mounting evidence of a growing multicultural student population, and findings from the latest Census (2006) in Ireland, indicate changes in the religious demographics of Irish society. It is in this context, that the continued existence of a state-aided denominational primary school system raises serious contradictions in legislative terms and with respect to equality. In particular, internal contradictions arise between Constitutional law that protects the right to practice religion and educational policy that, in practice, preserves a majority religious ethos in educational institutions. Anomalies also surface between Irish Equality legislation which seeks to counter religious discrimination, and education policy that upholds a denominational education system. Finally, Ireland’s obligations in terms of international law also expose the difficulties of reconciling religious freedom with a denominationally controlled education system. 23
References Akenson, D. H. (1970) The Irish Education Experiment: the national system of education in Ireland in the nineteenth century, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Aldridge, A. (2007) Religion in the Contemporary World: A Sociological Introduction, Cambridge, UK and Malden, MA, Polity Press. Central Statistics Office (2006) Census. Cork: Central Statistics Office. Coolahan, J. (1981) Irish Education: Its history and structure, Dublin IPA. Department of Education (1965) Rules for National Schools. Dublin: The Stationery Office. Department of Education (1971) Primary School Curriculum Teacher's Handbook, Part 1. In Education (Ed.), Dublin: Department of Education. Department Of Education and Science (1999) Revised Primary School Curriculum. Dublin: Stationery Office. Department Of Education and Science (2002) Capitation Grants for 2001/2002 School Year. Dublin: Department of Education Department Of Education and Science (2004) A Brief Description of the Irish Education System. Dublin: Communications Unit, Department of Education and Science Department Of Education and Science (2007) Primary Boards of Management: Information Manual. Dublin: Department of Education and Science. Devine, D. (2005) Welcome to the Celtic Tiger? Teacher Responses to Immigration and Increasing Ethnic Diversity in Irish Schools. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 15, 49 - 70. Drudy, S. (2006) Gender differences in entrance patterns and awards in initial teacher education. Irish Educational Studies, 25, 259 - 273. Drudy, S. & Lynch, K. (1993) Schools and Society in Ireland Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. Drudy, S., Martin, M., Woods, M. & O’Flynn, J. (2005) Men and the classroom: gender imbalances in teaching London, Routledge Falmer. FinlaY, G. (2007) Comprehensive Liberalism and Civic Education in the Republic of Ireland. Irish Political Studies, 22, 473 - 493. Flynn, S. (2005) Making Sense of Socrates on a TV chat show. Leaving Cert Religion. . The Irish Times. Government of Ireland (1998) Education Act 1998. Dublin: The Stationery Office. 24
Page 1 and 2: WORKING PAPER COUNTRY NOTE: IRELAND
Page 3 and 4: 1. Historical overview and introduc
Page 5 and 6: for National Schools in 1965, which
Page 7 and 8: Ireland signed the Convention on th
Page 9 and 10: ecognised schools, and under the Ac
Page 11 and 12: includes teachers, school managers,
Page 13 and 14: 1.4. Funding of the primary (nation
Page 15 and 16: 2. Ownership and control of the pri
Page 17 and 18: owners. The Board of Management is
Page 19 and 20: denomination of the school. For exa
Page 21 and 22: after consultation with the Chairpe
Page 23: 94% 43 ) mostly owned and managed b
Page 27: Reception And Integration Agency &

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