A shortage of Protestant teachers in the Republic is being exacerbated by demands for a qualification in the Irish language, a report presented to the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland said yesterday.
The report, presented to the assembly which is meeting in Belfast, stated that there was a "great shortage of Protestant teachers in general and Presbyterian (teachers) in particular ... the necessity for the qualification in the Irish language has meant teachers trained in Northern Ireland could not be employed".
It said that "however, a relaxing of this law now allows a teacher five years to attain the appropriate qualification. On the other hand, the Irish exam is of a very high standard and has a very low pass rate, which deters teachers from even attempting to do it."
Speaking to The Irish Times, Rev Nancy Cubbit, the church's director of primary education in the Republic, was at pains to emphasise that church members did not have a problem with the Irish language, and she recalled Presbyterians' efforts in its revival.
But she referred to practical difficulties presented to Protestant primary schools by demands for the Irish qualification.
An example was her own school in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, where although two teachers were on maternity leave, it had been necessary to employ substitute teachers with Northern Irish qualifications.
"Because they did not have Irish they were paid the rate for unqualified teachers and the school board had to make up the difference. It was quite a burden," she said.
There are currently 200 Protestant national schools in the Republic, 16 of which are under Presbyterian patronage, with several others under shared patronage involving the Church of Ireland and/or the Methodist Church in Ireland.
In his report to the general assembly, the church's director of secondary education in the Republic, Mr Brian Duffy, addressed problems presented by commitments to standardise the school year.
"It has been difficult as primary and second-level sectors have different minimum lengths of school year and different traditions in regard to religious holidays. Boarding schools which cater for children who naturally travel long distances to homes within Ireland, or to homes where families are serving overseas, have grave difficulty with the standardised year," he said.
The protests by the Rev Ian Paisley and some of his supporters at the presence of the Catholic primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, at the general assembly's opening session on Monday night was not raised yesterday.
One delegate, Rev Brian Kennaway of the Crumlin congregation in Belfast, asked what Dr Paisley was doing there in the first place.
"He regards the Roman Catholic Church as apostate. He regards the Presbyterian Church in Ireland as apostate. So, what's his problem if we're both apostates?"
Addressing the general assembly, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Dr Alison Elliot, explained how "it was natural two weeks ago that Keith O'Brien, Cardinal Archbishop of St Andrew's and Edinburgh, should address our assembly".
She commented that "the Scottish churches exist in a more benign climate and co-operation between them comes naturally".
Today the 1,000-plus delegates to the assembly are to discuss the present political situation and the possible selling of its headquarters at Church House, Fisherwick Place, Belfast, where the assembly is meeting.