Church school established for first time in decades

Ireland’s first new Catholic secondary school in 30 years opened its doors this week in a west Dublin suburb, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

Le Chéile Secondary School in Tyrrelstown is located in one of the most culturally and religiously diverse areas in the country and run by a Catholic trust body, which includes the schools of 14 religious congregations. The decision to place the new school under the Catholic trust was made due to parental demand.

Principal Aine Moran explained that roughly 10 per cent of the students have Irish parents while the other 90 per cent have immigrant parents.

“Any second-level schools that have opened in Ireland in the last 30 years have either been multi-denominational or non-denominational,” she said.

She explained that the school’s enrolment policy is not to be based on religious affiliation, as Le Chéile welcomes students from all faith traditions. The school is currently housed in temporary accommodation and therefore enrolment was kept to 86 students.