Cathal Barry
EXCLUSIVE
New survey shows media figures ‘misleading’
The number of Catholic primary schools that are being forced to turn away pupils is dramatically lower than has been claimed, The Irish Catholic can reveal.
Despite claims by politicians and commentators that one in five Catholic schools are over-subscribed and therefore forced to apply a ‘Catholics first’ policy meaning some non-Catholics are excluded, research conducted by this newspaper nationally has shown the figure to be less than 2%.
Of the 3,200 primary schools in the Republic, some 2,900 are under the patronage of the Catholic Church. The Irish Catholic can reveal that just 46 Catholics schools across the country are oversubscribed. This equates to just 1.6%, far less than the 20% regularly quoted in the media.
The real figures are 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, the research now reveals that, while the issue is real in a handful of areas, just a small number of children are affected.
Surprised
Dr John Murray, who lectures in religious education, admitted to being surprised by the real figures.
“The actual figure is so low compared to the one that is being bandied about in the media. There is a discrepancy that is quite stark, there is no doubt about that,” he said.
Dr Murray said, based on the figures, school oversubscription “definitely shouldn’t be an election issue”.
“It is still a real issue for the schools that are oversubscribed but nationally it is not as big an issue as we have been led to believe,” he said.
Fr Michael Drumm of the Catholic Schools Partnership (CSP) told The Irish Catholic that “what is absolutely clear is that the problem is not nearly as widespread as what a lot of commentary has suggested. The number of oversubscribed schools around the country is actually very small,” he said, acknowledging that there are “definitely serious bottle necks” in Dublin.
Problems
In the Dublin archdiocese, 17 schools are oversubscribed, representing more than a third of all Catholic schools experiencing problems nationwide. The remaining 29 schools are mostly in the east of the country.
“There is no evidence any September that there is any pupil in Ireland that has failed to find a school place and that is the ultimate test of the system,” Fr Drumm said.
Dr Murray said “it has been put out there in the media that this is a massive problem with a lot of schools oversubscribed, up to 20%, maybe even more than that in people’s minds, and it’s not as big as that.
“It is deceptive and it is misleading for people to be given the idea that a large amount of schools are oversubscribed when in fact it is a very small minority,” he said.