`Catholic schools are churches masquerading as schools," complains Mike McKillen, a frustrated parent and activist who has been campaigning for democracy and the rights of minorities in the education system for 20 years.

McKillen has been frustrated in his attempts to send his children to a local national school which reflects and respects the ever-increasing diversity of religious belief in Ireland. He is far from being alone: the last census shows 66,000 people stating they had no religion; a further 83,000 preferred not to say one way or another. Fionnuala Kilfeather, national co-ordinator of the National Parents Council (Primary), is aware of the concerns of this growing minority. "We often get parents calling us with this exact problem," she says. "They want to send their children to school locally, but they are faced with a choice between a Catholic or a Protestant school - and either they don't practice any religion themselves or they are members of a minority faith. "Unfortunately, under current legislation there is no provision for consultation with the community when a school is being set up. But you have to have schools which meet people's needs, and make different types of schools available. "It is important to respect the rights of all children at school level, and this applies no less to their religious beliefs."

There are 15 multi-denominational school in the State, but the demand for places is extremely high, and not all children have such a school near enough to their home. Realistically, the choice doesn't exist for a lot of parents. However, it is not simply a question of choice. Schools are legally entitled to discriminate against children at point of entry on the basis of their religion.

Dick Spicer, honorary president of the Irish Humanist Association, has two primary school-going children. "To be honest," he says, "parents just have to lie about their religious beliefs to get their children into schools - and, once they are in, try to make the best of it. "My two children were at a Protestant school for a while. We sent them there on the assumption that it would be all-embracing, but we made the wrong assumption. In the end we moved them to our local Catholic school, which we have found to be a lot more open."

Under the Constitution, parents are recognised as the primary educators of their children and are not obilged, "in violation of their conscience", to send their children to schools established by the State. Discrimination on religious ground is prohibited, but the right of denominational schools to preserve a denominational ethos is upheld. Teachers' guidelines issued as recently as the early 1970s state emphatically that religious instruction is "by far the most important" subject and that "a religious spirit should inform and vivify the whole work of the school". Which is ideal for children who practice the particular religion of the school. However, it shows little respect for children who don't. "The denominational nature of education system is in breach of both the UN Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child," McKillen says. "Given the lack of choice here, parents have to send their children to denominational schools, and where their children do not attend religion class, they are looked on as different. Children feel that sense of a stigma being attached to them, and they don't like it."

Spicer says his children's self-esteem was undermined. "In their old school there was no room for tolerance of their beliefs, and they were never given the opportunity to express their views, which did make them feel like the underdog."

The biggest problems arise at Confirmation and Communion times, when a great deal of time is given over to preparing for the sacraments. McKillen says religion should be an optional subject taught after hours, as in the US. Some parents opt to keep their children in the religion class, but ask that the teacher gives them some other work to do.

THE SITUATION is not entirely bleak. Increasingly, denominational schools make an effort to cater for children of minority faiths or no religion.

Margaret Scanlon is in charge of preparing sixth class for Confirmation at St Fergal's NS Senior School in Bray, Co Wicklow. "We have about four or five this year who are not doing their Confirmation - some of them are waiting until next year - but those children who are not Catholics join in class discussion. "We talk about different beliefs, and why some children are not making their Confirmation. We also have a meditation room which is non-denominational. It is a very simple room, with landscape pictures on the wall. "The important thing is to respect each child's individuality."