The Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, the Very Rev Robert McCarthy, has entered the controversy over whether Catholic children should receive preparation for Holy Communion and Confirmation during school hours.
Dr McCarthy, in a letter published in today's Irish Times, expresses strong views on the Roman Catholic Church's position in relation to the issue.
The principal of the Dunboyne gaelscoil was dismissed after a bitter four-month row over whether matters of doctrine such as Communion should be dealt with during or after school hours.
Dr McCarthy writes that the reason the Roman Catholic Church had been quiet on the controversy was because, if preparation for the sacraments took place outside the school curriculum, the numbers going forward for the sacraments would be significantly reduced.
He begins by saying that what seemed to be lacking in the Dunboyne school dispute was an appreciation of the nature of religious education. It is a subject in its own right and has nothing to do with the preparation of children for first Holy Communion and Confirmation, he writes.
The Roman Catholic Church had been quiet in this controversy and it was not hard to guess the reason, he says.
"For if Holy Communion and Confirmation took place outside the school curriculum (as it should) then the numbers being presented for these sacraments are likely to be significantly reduced.
"The Church seems happy that, instead, almost everyone should be prepared for nothing more than rites of puberty by teachers who may never darken the church doors themselves."
The former principal of the gaelscoil in Dunboyne, Mr Tomás Ó Dúlaing, wanted to move some elements of religious education, such as preparation for Communion, outside of school hours. The dispute fiercely divided the school: teachers and a large majority of parents supported Mr Ó Dúlaing but the board of management, the formal parents' committee and the school's patron body, An Foras Patrunachta, opposed his views.
Yesterday, a Catholic Communications Office spokesman said there would be no comment on Dr McCarthy's letter. If there was to be any response it would be on foot of the letter being published, he said.