A chara, – Education Equality may have some "minority believers" among its membership, as April Duff says in her letters of May 22nd, but that does not equate to speaking on behalf of minority religions.
Such groups have their own official representatives; and some of those at least have been fighting very hard to allow denominational schools to maintain the right to set their own admissions policies. This is because, despite Ms Duff’s claims, those from religious minorities in general have few difficulties accessing schools in their local areas. The reason for this is that it is in only a very few localities around the country that there are not enough school places to meet demand.
On the other hand, if Education Equality’s demands were met, the ability of minority religions to maintain schools that catered for the needs of their faith communities would be at best severely impaired and at worst destroyed altogether.
Ms Duff can assert all she likes that the changes she desires represent “true protection of religious minorities”; however, given the damage the implementation such changes would have upon the schools of minority faiths, that assertion is simply not credible. – Is mise,
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Rev PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.