Religious education in the Republic of Ireland

Church schools

In the Republic of Ireland, the vast majority of the country's primary schools are owned or managed (or both) by religious organisations. In 2007, and of the national total of 3,279 schools, 3039 (92.7%) were controlled by the Catholic Church, 183 (5.6%) were controlled by the Church of Ireland, 0.7% were controlled by other religious organisations while 1% were controlled by organisations which were not affiliated with any particular religion. This system of religious control was instituted according to the Stanley Letter of 1831. Amongst the country's secondary schools, voluntary secondary schools, comprehensive schools and community schools, the majority are again generally controlled by religious organisations.

Fintan O'Toole has criticised this aspect of the educational system, as has Seán Flynn, education correspondent of The Irish Times. Former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald has also criticised the denominational system. The Humanist Association of Ireland, Atheist Ireland and other groups have likewise objected to the denominational system, believing that it introduces artificial divisions within Irish society. The Irish Primary Principals Network conducted a survey that found that 72% of parents wanted primary schools to be managed by the state with all religions given equal opportunity.

In June 2009 and referring obliquely to the events of Diswellstown the previous year (in which the children of parents who were not catholic church-goers, mostly immigrants to the country, were refused entry to the local primary school, producing a group of largely non-white children who had no school to attend) the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said that the current denominational system is "not tenable" and that "the current almost monopoly is a historical hangover that doesn't reflect the realities of the times" and has called for the Catholic Church to cede control of many schools. As of August 2010, the Catholic Church has yet to cede control of any schools. The Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, however, supports denominational education, as does The Iona Institute, a small organisation based in Dublin which campaigns upon a range of issues of interest to conservative Catholics.

Jewish education

There is a small National School partnered with a Secondary School Stratford College in Rathgar, which has a Jewish ethos in Dublin (although the schools now accept children from other denominations due to a dwindling Jewish population). The National/elementary school was set up in the 1934 by Rabbi Herzog, as the Zion National School in Bloomfield Avenue. The Secondary School was set up by the Chief Rabbi Jakobovitz and the Jewish community in the 1950s, initially with classes in the Dublin Talmud Torah School, but in 1953 they ceased with the opening of Stratford College. In 1980 the National School moved to the Stratford College location in Rathgar. However throughout the years members of the Jewish community attended schools with a Christian ethos such as the Methodist run Wesley College, Dublin, where the future president of Israel Chaim Herzog attended.

Islamic education

While Muslims do attend Christian ethos schools or multi-denominational schools, in recent years there has been a growth in the number of Muslim National Schools being established, these are funded by the Department of Education. Traditionally Muslim students have attended Christian schools and received Islamic training, separately. There are plans to establish an Islamic secondary school in Dublin. There are also plans to set up an Islamic University in Citywest in Dublin, funded by Saudi Arabia.