Towards a Better Future

Chapter Seven: The School System: Equality, Inclusion and Rights
as discipline. Parents should be welcomed, involved on Boards of Management and good feedback
from minority ethnic parents on the progress of their children should be encouraged (ibid.). These
findings point to two requirements: additional support for marginalised children whose first language
is not English or who are from the Traveller community, and to the need for professional
development for teachers in best practice relating to diversity. However, it should be pointed out that
the authors of the present Towards a Better Future report are aware of some outstanding examples of
good practice in this area in primary and post-primary schools.
RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
While Catholic and other Christian
denominations still form the majority of the
population, the 2011 Census showed that the
non-Catholic population has increased
significantly (Faas et al., 2016). The share of the
Catholic Church in the population had declined
to 84% in 2011. By far the two largest
proportionate changes between 2006 and 2011
were in the ‘Other’ category (which would have
included the increase in the Muslim population)
and in the ‘No religion’ category. With a
proportionate share of 84% of the population, a
total of 91% of primary schools are Catholic
(ibid.). Three other Christian denominations,
“
The multi-denominational
sector has grown from the
early 1990s when they had
just 11 primary schools to 77
primary and four post-primary
schools in 2016… still a modest
share of the total number
of schools.
”
with 4% of the population together have 6% of the schools. Muslims, now the third largest
denomination, have just two schools, while Jews have one school. The multi-denominational sector has
grown from the early 1990s when they had just 11 primary schools to 77 primary and four postprimary
schools in 2016 (www.educatetogether.ie), still a modest share of the total number of schools.
The fact that 96% of Irish primary schools have religious patrons, with 91% of these under the
patronage of the Catholic Church is unique in the developed world (Report of the Advisory Group on
Patronage and Pluralism, 2012). This has been raised four times with state representatives before the
UN Human Rights Committee as part of the periodic reporting mechanism. This Committee has
recommended that Irish schooling should be re-structured in order to protect freedom of religion
and non-discrimination and that more non-denominational schools should exist throughout the
country (Mawhinney, 2015). The Report of the Advisory Group on the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism
in the Primary Sector was published in 2012 and updates indicate that little progress has been made
to date, particularly in the area of divestment (www.education.ie).
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