The situation with regard to church schools in the Republic of Ireland is not simple, and more than one response is possible (News from Britain and Ireland, “Movement to force Irish Church out of education grows”, 31 October). The Irish State funds public [state] school provision, almost all of which are managed by the Churches, overwhelmingly by the Catholic Church.The non-acceptance of local children by local schools is much less a function of immigration by members of other faiths than of a distancing from Catholicism on the part of many baptised Catholics.There is no need to rehearse the causes of this massive crisis of confidence among the Church’s sometime believers, but the resulting difficulties regarding their small children’s schooling presents a genuine