Madam, – In insisting that the Government roll out a one-size-fits-all schools model based on a State-controlled takeover of education, Gordon Kennedy displays an apparent ignorance of the republicanism he appears to cherish (October 27th).
In the field of education, I can think of nothing more contradictory to the idea of freedom at the heart of republicanism than a State-controlled plan to deny parents the right to decide on the form of education appropriate for their children.
Mr Kennedy also appears to confuse the very desirable value of pluralism with the ideology of secularism. Why, for example, should a family or a community that wishes to inculcate religious values in their younger people be thwarted in this process by a secular ideology hostile to religious faith? In my vision of Irish republicanism, that cherished by Pearse, Connolly and the other pioneers of this Republic, the people are sovereign and their freedoms and rights to select a school of their choice must be respected. Freedom can never be imposed by a State diktat, but arises from the rights derived from the dignity of being a sovereign human person in a Republic. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Alex Staveley implies (October 26th) that the existence of other religious or non-religious minorities weakens the claims of the Protestant schools in their current dispute with the Department of Education. Not so! The arrival of new minorities is not a reason to dismantle the rights of a long-established minority. New minority religious (or non-religious) communities deserve to have their rights addressed separately.
The Protestant churches, as one minority, have a centuries-long involvement in providing education on this island. This argument is about much more than the restoration of grants worth €2.8 million and the restoration of our schools to their treatment as being in “the free scheme” (as they have been since 1967). This is about justice and equality for one minority, and our claim is made, not at the expense of or to the exclusion of any other minority.
The uncomfortable fact remains that huge numbers of Protestant children in Ireland, who choose to be educated in a school of their own religious denomination, unlike the majority, do not have access to free second-level education. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In response to Gemma Hensey (October 27th), I certainly do understand the fuss about the funding of Protestant second level schools. When I started school in 1967 in Miltown Malbay, the only primary school option was the Roman Catholic national school, a school which gave me a wonderful general education and I credit my teacher, Mary Teresa Murrihy, with having instilled a desire and love of learning far beyond any curriculum. Nonetheless, in order to have a religious/spiritual education in the creed of my church, my parents drove 30 miles every Sunday to take us to church and Sunday school.
For my secondary education I went to The King’s Hospital school in Dublin, where I benefited from a combination of an excellent general education and a religious/spiritual education in the creed of my church, the Church of Ireland.
The fact remains that education in this country is still not run on secular lines and until such a time as it is, I believe that parents should continue to have the right to choose for their children to receive an education which shares their religious beliefs.
For Church of Ireland families in rural Ireland there is rarely a choice for national school and for secondary the only choice is often a boarding school, with the associated financial costs.
I passionately believe the State should continue to provide support for these schools in order that all children have the same choice and access to an education model of their choice. – Yours, etc,