Press Releases26 Oct 10

Church leaders reaffirm their role amidst education cutbacks

Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox representatives met today for the Irish Inter-Church Meeting in Dublin to outline the role of the Churches in education both in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland following dramatic public cutbacks.

Cardinal Séan Brady, Primate of All-Ireland and Co-Chair of the Irish Inter-Church Meeting said, ‘The cutbacks in public spending which have been announced in both parts of our island have left many reeling with fear and uncertainty. There is an ongoing debate North and South about the relationship between faith and schooling, about how scarce public resources should be used in a society of diverse religious and ethnic identity as well as increasing secularity’.

Over 70 delegates gathered to discuss a wide range of issues to explore the Churches’ future role in education with an overwhelming sense that the Churches should lead the way in inclusive education.

Bishop Richard Clarke, President of the Irish Council of Churches and the other Co-Chair of the Irish Inter-Church Meeting added, ‘Thirty years ago a meeting such as this would have been impossible. However today we say, 'North and South, Roman Catholic and Protestant, we want to speak together on the role of the Church in education'’.

The meeting which was entitled, ‘The Churches and Education: Context, Vision and Values’, featured contributions from Bishop Donal McKeown, Auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor and Dr Kenneth Fennelly, Secretary to the Church of Ireland Board of Education for the Republic of Ireland on the theme of ‘The Role of the Churches in Education’.

Other speakers included Dr Sheelagh Drudy, Adjunct Professor of Education at UCD, Rev. Robert Herron, Chairperson of the Transferor Representatives’ Council in Northern Ireland and Dr Emer Smyth, Programme Coordinator of Education Research at the ESRI in Dublin.

The Irish Inter-Church Meeting, which represents fifteen Christian traditions and some 3,200 local faith communities, was founded in 1973 and has held ecumenical discussions amongst church leaders on many important social and theological issues, although this was the first time it discussed education.

The meeting which was held in the Emmaus Retreat Centre in Swords, county Dublin took place against the backdrop of increased public debate on educational management and proposed changes in State funding of education in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.


For further details please contact:
Karen Kelly or Philip McKinley
Inter-Church Centre
48 Elmwood Avenue, Belfast BT9 6AZ
t: 028 (048 from the Republic) 9066 3145
m: +353 (0)87 963 3239 (Dublin mobile)
e: [email protected]
w: www.irishchurches.org