The Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke, has offered to mediate in the dispute over religious education at the interdenominational gaelscoil in Dunboyne, Co Meath.
Yesterday, the principal of the school, Mr Tómas Ó Dualaing, was summoned to appear before a disciplinary hearing of the school's Board of Management, to be held at the Glen Royal Hotel, Maynooth, on April 11th next.
He is being charged with undermining the board, with bringing the board into disrepute and with being gratuitously offensive to the school patron, An Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna Teo.
The dispute is over religious education taking place outside regular school hours, which Mr Ó Dualaing, teachers and a majority of parents, support.
In a letter to Mr Ó Dualaing Bishop Clarke expressed his "genuine and deep sympathy and concern for you in the situation which has now developed with regard to the teaching of religious education in the gaelscoil in Dunboyne". He offered any help he could and said he would be willing "to act as an outside 'broker' in any efforts at rapprochement". He continued that he also believed "very firmly, that a widespread discussion - involving the churches, teachers, parents, the Department and the trade unions - should be held to look fully and openly at the implications of the distinctions between denominational education, multi-denominational education and inter-denominational education, all of which are quite different concepts with different philosophies behind them".
In this context, too, he offered to help "in facilitating such discussion".
Following difficulties in teaching religion since the school opened in 1998 a policy document was prepared and agreed by parents, teachers, and the school's Board of Management last year, under which children would be taught the doctrinal differences between the denominations outside school hours. This was rejected by the school's patron, An Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán Ghaeilge Teo.
It insisted that all religious education be conducted within school hours. Its position was later en- dorsed by the Dunboyne school's Board of Management in a 5 to 3 vote at a meeting in mid-February.
However, the school's teachers and a majority of parents stand by the original document, as submitted to An Foras last year. This position was further endorsed at a meeting attended by an estimated 70 people on Wednesday night. The school is attended by 112 children from 75 families, approximately 5 per cent of whom are from a Church of Ireland background. There are five teachers at the school, including the principal.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that there is no member of the Church of Ireland on the school's Board of Management.
Last night the secretary of An Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán Ghaeilge Teo, Mr Dónall Ó Conaill, said he was constrained from commenting on the Dun- boyne situation by legal advice to its Board of Management.
He did say, however, that there appeared to a conflict of rights there with many parents suggesting their children were being discriminated against because it was proposed they be taught religion "by outsiders and outside school hours".
He said that fundamental to the concept of interdenominationalism was that children of different denominations would be taught their different doctrines together, so they would develop a better un- derstanding of each tradition.
This, he said, had been made clear to the founders of the school at Dunboyne when it was set up. If they wanted to have religion taught outside school hours then they should consider changing the status of the school to a multi- denominational one, he suggested.
