State Gave Catholic Church Guarantee Of Separate Religious Education

Details have come to light of commitments the State haven given the Catholic church on the development of a new model of Primary school education.

Freedom of Information legislation was used by RTE to obtain internal Department of Education documents.

The documents contain guarantees that Catholic children in the new schools would receive a full separate Catholic religious education, even though it was already clear that Catholic children would be in a minority in the schools.

Protestant church leaders and teachers warned that this would be divisive and VEC officials say that it could be seen as the segregation of white Catholic children from non-white newcomers.

In 2008 the state introduced a brand new model of primary schools, called the Community National School in response to a dramatic and unprecedented rise in immigration. Its aim was to meet a growing need for non-Catholic schools.

When the first two schools opened that year, almost 80% of their pupils were non-Catholics.

The documents released to RTE indicate that from the start the State gave a commitment to the Catholic bishops that Catholic children in the new schools would receive a fully Catholic religious education.

This will result in children being separated according to their beliefs for religious education.

Amid increasing criticism of the plan it was eventually agreed to segregate children for religious for a number of weeks per year at Eastertime.

Professor Aine Hyland said she was surprised to see the State still deferring to the church, as it had done in the past.