Over the past fifty years, the Irish education system has evolved to include religious discrimination that was not intended to be there. The influence of the Catholic Church has undermined attempts by politicians to respect and balance the Constitutional rights of all families.
Please lobby your politicians to introduce legal changes and statutory guidelines to reverse this religious discrimination. Here is some of the timeline of how it evolved.
The Education System as Established
When the Irish school system was established, schools had to offer a curriculum which combined moral and literary instruction but separate religious instruction.
Article 44.2.4 supports the right of students to not attend religious instruction. Article 42.1 guarantees the inalienable rights of parents in relation to the education of their children.
The Integrated Curriculum 1965 and 1971
In 1965 the Rules for National Schools were put in place. Rule 68 removed the separation between religious and secular subjects that had been in place since the start of the education system with no regard for minorities.
The 1971 Curriculum (Teachers Handbook) endorsed the religious integrated curriculum.
The Green Paper 1992
In 1992 the Green Paper ‘Education for a Changing World’ was published. The Green Paper raised this issue and recognised that the Rules for National Schools and the 1971 Teachers Handbook for Primary schools needed to be amended to ensure the Constitutional Rights of All children are fully safeguarded (page 90, 91).
The Constitutional Review Group 1995
In 1995 the Constitutional Review Group Report commented on this issue and said that:

“Requirements that the school must be prepared in principle to accept pupils from denominations other than its own and to have separate secular and religious instruction are not unreasonable or unfair.”

The White Paper on Education 1996
In 1996 the White Paper on Education 1996 supported putting in place guidelines on the Constitutional rights of minorities to not attend religious instruction and of their rights in relation to integrating religion into secular subjects.
In the White Paper there was no intention of providing a legal basis for encroaching on the time allocated for secular subjects while preparing children for religious sacraments.
The White paper stated that:

“While each school may properly nurture and support its particular ethos, it is also obliged to acknowledge and reflect the principles and requirements of a democratic society, respecting the diverse beliefs and ways of life of others.”
“Religious Education
The revised curriculum will reiterate the right of schools, in accordance with their religious ethos, to provide denominational religious education and instruction to their students, while underpinning the constitutional rights of parents to withdraw their children from religious education instruction. In the context of the revised curriculum, the Rules for National Schools and the Teacher’s Handbook will be reviewed to ensure that the Constitutional rights of children are fully safeguarded. Therefore, while recognising and supporting the denominational ethos of schools, all schools will be required, in their management and planning processes, to ensure that the rights of those who do not subscribe to the school’s ethos are protected in a caring manner.
A sensitive balance is required between the rights, obligations and choices of the majority of parents and students, who subscribe to the ethos of a school, and those in a minority, who may not subscribe to that ethos, but who do not have the option, for practical reasons, to select a school which reflects their particular choices. In very many instances, the concerns of the parents and students are dealt with successfully, but problems have arisen in some cases. In this regard, the Report on the National Education Convention noted that: “The dilemmas and challenges posed for policy-makers and school authorities require not only dialogue at school level but the development of “good practice” guidelines by a suitably qualified and representative working party convened by the Department” (p. 33).
“Such a working party will be convened in the near future.”(Page 25)

The Campaign Case 1998
In March 1998 the Supreme Court case (Campaign to Separate Church and State) referred to the ethos of schools influencing minorities. This was in relation to second level schools. The court was quite specific, they said that the religious ethos could influencing minorities to ‘some degree’ if they choose to attend that particular school. They referred to this influence happening in the general atmosphere of the school and did not refer to ethos influencing children because of integrating it into secular subjects.
The Education Act 1998
The Education Act 1998 does not specifically sanction integrating religion into secular subjects or taking up time allocated to secular subjects for preparing children for religious sacraments.
The Oireachtas debates on the Education Act 1998 and in Particular on Section 15 of the Act did not refer to integrating religion into all secular subjects including RSE.

• Section 15-2(e) of the Education Act refers obliges the Board of Management to have regard to the principles and requirements of a democratic society and have respect and promote respect for the diversity of values, beliefs, traditions, languages and ways of life in society.
• Section 30-2(d) of the Education Act envisages space being left in the school day for the expression of the ethos of the school. That is not the same thing as integrating the ethos of the school into secular subjects including Relationship and sexuality education and giving children a choice be catholic moral education or no moral education at all.

The Primary School Curriculum 1999
In 1999 the updated Primary School Curriculum developed by the NCCA sanctioned the integrating of religion into secular subjects and bringing all children to a knowledge of god.
While it recognises pluralism, it failed to take on board the Green Paper on Education, the White Paper on Education, the Report of the Constitutional Review Group, the Supreme Court case (Campaign to Separate Church and State), and the underlying purpose of the Education Act 1998 in balancing rights in a democratic society and respecting the right of minority parents in relation to the education of their children. Read more…

Protecting democracy from the undue influence of money between elections

Calling concerned teachers

If you are a teacher and concerned about unwanted religious influence contact Chris at teachers@atheist.ie

UN quizzes Ireland over institutional abuse and religious schooling

By National Secular Society