There is no appetite from pupils, parents and teachers for a Social Democrats motion which would “essentially restrict or ban” children making Confirmation and Communion in Irish schools, a Senator has said.
Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly has once again highlighted the motion, a week after it was debated by TDs in the Dáil, receiving strong support from Sinn Fein among others.
“The Social Democrats are bringing forward a motion, essentially to restrict or to ban Confirmation and Communion and Religious Education from being taught in primary schools. The problem with this is that children don’t want it, teachers don’t want it, and parents don’t want it. So, essentially, the Social Democrats are bringing forward a motion that nobody has any appetite for,” the Cavan Senator said.
Deputy Paul Lawless, a former teacher, outlined his party’s opposition to the motion, which calls on the government to increase the number of multi-denominational schools and phase out religious patronage in public education. Last week, the Mayo TD hit out at the Social Democrats, accusing the party of pushing an “anti-pluralist” agenda via their motion on educational reform.
“The Social Democrats are seeking to ultimately deny the rights of thousands of families across Ireland to educate their children in the ethos of their children,” Lawless said. He said that Aontú is a “party of pluralism, and we believe pluralism is about inclusion.” He added that while his party supports the divestment programme, the Government has faced difficulties because parents are “happy overwhelmingly with faith-based education, and are seeking to support that in the surveys and consultations that happen.”
“It is very disappointing that the Social Democrats would try to engineer their own beliefs and their own views over the people. It’s a dangerous route to go down where politicians would seek to force the electorate, force their citizens, into the views that they support themselves,” Deputy Lawless said, adding that his party supports self-determination for parents and teachers when it comes to school ethos.
Jen Cummins, who has led the Social Democrats on the issue, has insisted that her party’s motion is grounded in parental demand.
“Parents have been calling for more multi-denominational schools for years. Over 90 per cent of our schools are still under religious patronage, despite the country changing around them,” she said.
The party is demanding the return of a Citizens’ Assembly on the future of education.
However, Deputy Lawless argued that the real voices being ignored are those of parents and teachers already in the system. He pointed to a recent INTO conference, where 60% of teachers voted to retain faith instruction and sacramental preparation in schools.
“Where divestment is wanted, by teachers and parents, Aontú supports it. But forced divestment is not choice, it’s coercion. We should reflect, not suppress, community values,” he said.
Last month, teachers at the INTO conference rejected a proposal that the educational body would work with the Department of Education to remove single-faith religious education from the school day in state-funded schools.
While other sections of the motion which sought to protect teachers with a minority faith or no faith were approved, teachers spoke strongly against what they saw as a “blanket removal” of faith lessons from schools – and pointed to the results of an INTO survey which had found that just one in five teachers objected to teaching religion, Niamh Ui Bhriain previously reported.
Teachers voted at the Congress by a significant majority in opposing against section 4 of the motion – with 285 opposing while 196 supported the proposal.
The motion affirmed that the INTO Congress remained committed to extending protections to teachers of minority faiths and those with no religious affiliation and acknowledged that requiring teachers to obtain the Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies is a discriminatory barrier to employment, limiting access based on religious grounds.