Dear Editor, As the debate around Catholic schools rumbles on, the Church should surely be doing more to quash unnecessary concerns?
As research recently conducted by The Irish Catholic proved (IC 11/02/2016), Catholic schools are far from oversubscribed, let alone turning away children who don’t hold baptismal certificates.
In fact, many Catholic schools, particularly in rural parts of the country, are crying out for children to join their ranks. They are accepting children from all faiths and none, and leading the way in terms of integration and inclusivity while they are at it.
As this newspaper rightly pointed out, the results of the research, which revealed that less than 2% of Catholic schools are oversubscribed, is a blow to campaigners who are calling for the Church to pull back from education claiming that non-Catholics are routinely discriminated against and barred from Catholic schools.
However, I believe this should also serve as a wake-up call (yes, another) for the Church in Ireland, particularly officials involved in education, to do more to articulate the sterling work of Catholic schools in addition to correcting the record.
Critics and commentators, including politicians, for far too long have been allowed to throw around inaccurate figures regarding Catholic schools. It’s about time the Church stood up and held them to account.
Misleading figures and unfair comment feed the lie that Catholic schools are inhospitable places, when in fact the opposite is true.
Yours etc.,
James Delaney,
Raheny,
Dublin 5.