Irish priests in curriculum clash with minister

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) in Ireland has criticised a suggestion by the Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn, that schools should give less religious instruction, writes James Macintyre.

The ACP said the Labour minister’s idea that time allocated to religious instruction should be devoted to core curriculum subjects instead was “unhelpful, unwarranted and unacceptable”. In a statement issued on 26 January, the association questioned Mr Quinn’s motives. “It seems at best a hapless effort to devise educational policy ‘on the hoof’ and, at worst, an indication of an intention to undermine religious education,” said the ACP, adding that the minister’s comments would be widely interpreted as an effort to undermine religion and religious-run schools.

Mr Quinn’s comments, made at the Irish Primary Principals Network conference last week, were in response to complaints from principals that they were working with an “overloaded curriculum”. He drew a mixed reaction when he told an audience of 1,100 principals that they should focus on core curriculum subjects such as English, maths and science and that, in other countries, faith formation was overseen by parishes, not schools.

In Ireland, schools are required to spend 30 minutes a day on religion, but a survey for the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation last year found that more than 70 per cent of teachers spend more than that on faith teaching, when preparation for sacraments was taken into account. A spokesman for the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference said: “We know in Ireland that parents will generally wish their children to attend schools that support their own convictions. The Church, and our constitution, support this choice.”