Reflections on recent developments in the governance of schools in Ireland and the role of the church

Abstract

This article analyses recent developments in school governance in Ireland. The context for school governance in Ireland is changing. Features of this new context include increased population diversity partly because of immigration; an increasingly negative attitude to religion; a decline in religious observance; economic growth; the school performance compared with other countries; increasing population size; the nature of the electoral system, which brings local issues to the fore; and the unionization of the teaching profession, which affects system change. This changing context is set against the embedded and strong influence of organised religion. Disquiet at the church's influence on educational policy and practice is increasing. The government's intention to address this influence is slow to impact but evidence indicates that the role of religious institutions in school governing in Ireland is declining. Because the present situation is unsustainable, a crisis in school patronage is looming.

Introduction

In the Republic of Ireland, the socio-political context for the school sector has changed considerably in recent times. The changes are having implications for the governance of schools in Ireland. In particular, the role of the church, which is a significant school governing in Ireland, has come under scrutiny (Girvin, 2018). In this article, we analyse the nature of school governance in Ireland and examine the debates on the reform of school governance, especially in relation to the role of the church. We first outline the approach we have taken and then consider the changing socio-political context in Ireland, the Irish school system, and the roles of the central government and the Catholic Church. We then reflect on the dominant role of the Catholic Church in the governance of schools. The article ends with some concluding comments.

Our approach to the issue

For this article, we have analysed relevant policies, the academic literature, and the ‘grey literature’ such as reports, working papers, government documents, and media articles. Our analysis has been framed by the goals for effective governance identified by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): accountability; capacity; knowledge governance; stakeholder involvement; strategic thinking; and adopting a whole-system perspective (OECD, 2021a). Those goals have generated debates on governance in various sectors, including education (Wilkins et al., 2019). Here we focus on three of the OECD goals: accountability, stakeholder involvement and adopting a whole system perspective. Accountability, as defined by the OECD, is ‘organising who renders an account to whom and for what an account is rendered’ (OECD, 2021b: 1). Stakeholder involvement is about ‘helping involve stakeholders throughout the policy process in policymaking and practice of governance’ (OECD, 2021b: 1). Having a whole system perspective is concerned with ‘adopting perspectives reaching beyond individual realms of responsibility to coordinate across decision-makers, governance levels and policies’ (OECD, 2021b: 1). We are interested in accountability because the provision of information about a school's work, the nature and focus of that information, and to whom that information is provided is significant in considering the role of the church in the education system in Ireland. As we make clear below, the church remains a key stakeholder in the Irish education system potentially at the expense of the involvement of other stakeholders. Finally, the OECD goal ‘adopting a whole system perspective’ enables a reflection on the ways decision-making, governance and policymaking are integrated and interlinked in the Irish education system.

The changing socio-political context for the school sector in Ireland

Until the 1970s, the Catholic Church dominated Irish culture (Maher and O’Brien, 2017; Scally, 2021) and the main political parties did not challenge that dominance. The Catholic Church has had a close relationship with the state throughout the 20th century and it has developed a significant role in the Irish education system (ó Buachalla, 1988). However, recently, Ireland has seen significant social and political changes, which is challenging this dominance. We review the changes in this section.

The nature of the population: The impact of immigration

The composition of the population of Ireland, which is approximately 5.01 m, has changed considerably in recent times. In part this is due to free movement in the EU, as well as immigrants from across the world and has moved from being ‘Catholic, White, and Gaelic’ to an increasingly ethnically and culturally diverse one’ (Faas et al., 2016: 84), resulting partly from a recent substantial growth in immigration. The population around the capital Dublin has increased and become more diverse and thus more cosmopolitan, while the rural population has decreased, especially in the number of young people, but remains socially conservative. These changes have had significant implications for schools (Faas et al., 2016).

The growth of the Irish economy and its changing nature

The growth and changing nature of the economy are significant aspects of the changes in Irish society. As Girvin (2018: 407) states:

In 1973, Ireland was still a poor predominately Catholic country on the periphery of Europe with a conservative-nationalist political culture. Ireland is now a wealthy, multi-ethnic country deeply embedded in Europe and the global economic system.

With the rise in immigration, Irish society is increasingly subject to influences from other countries. In particular, ‘Ireland operates within the Anglo-American zone of influence’ (Lynch et al., 2012: 5). Arguably, Brexit has weakened these influences and strengthened the influence of the European Union. Nonetheless, the changing economy has raised issues about the skills and subjects taught in schools. Further, the effects of neoliberalism are significant. As Aldred (2019) argues, neoliberalism has diminished the credibility of the public realm, which has affected societal attitudes to education (Skerritt, 2019). As in England, neo-liberal education policymaking has, in part, focused on the importance of student performance (Skerritt, 2019).

Attitudes to religion and religious observance

Attitudes to religion and religious observance among the native Irish population have changed in recent times (Scally, 2021), which has altered the relationship between religious institutions and schools. In 1979, an estimated 2.5 million people came out to see Pope John Paul ll during his visit to Ireland. However, Pope Francis’ visit in 2018 drew significantly fewer attendees and his visit was tainted by protests about clerical sexual abuse (NPR, 2018). The 2011 census found that 84.2% of Irish people described themselves as Catholic (ó Corráin, 2018), but a survey in 2020 found that under 50% of marriages took place in a Catholic church and only 36% of self-identified Catholics attend mass at least once a week (Pope, 2020).

Specific events that reflected badly on the Catholic Church aided these developments, especially a consistent pattern of sexual allegations against religious persons. Thus in 1994, the Fianna Fáil-Labour governing coalition collapsed as a result of an initial issue with the transferring of a priest from the Republic of Ireland to authorities in Northern Ireland (Ferriter, 2004; ó Corráin, 2018). Subsequently, the reports of three government investigations further damaged the Catholic Church's reputation. The reports suggested that for the church protecting the institution was more important than protecting children and vulnerable adults (McGarry, 2017). The tarnishing of the Catholic Church, and the consequent weakening of its moral authority, has called into question its right to remain the dominant stakeholder in education.

The role of the teaching profession in Ireland

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) represents teachers in the primary sector (Kildare.ie, 2023). At the post-primary level, there are two unions: the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI). The ASTI represents mainly teachers in the voluntary secondary school sector and also represents teachers in community schools and colleges as well as comprehensive schools. The TUI in the main (though not exclusively) represents schools in the ETB sector (Milliken, 2021). The INTO is very strong, but while the ASTI and the TUI are powerful within their sectors, they are often at odds on major policy issues, which Milliken (2021) argues weakens their combined power.

Regardless of any differences, teachers and the teachers’ unions are key stakeholders in the educational governance system in Ireland. Together with the church, especially the Catholic Church, the teacher unions are powerful stakeholders in contrast to other stakeholders. They are also significant players in policy development/implementation and have sought to resist some policy changes particularly those associated with neoliberalism. However, in a very interesting account, Carr and Beckett (2018) argue that the professional practice of teachers and the campaigns waged by teachers’ unions to enhance education and society in Ireland ‘is under threat in the present era’ (Carr and Beckett, 2018: 1). Importantly, they assert – and make a strong case for – teachers being ‘confronted by demands for the standardisation of teaching, performances from teachers and students and tight accountability’. For Carr and Beckett, these are changes that are occurring globally, which are as they put it, ‘are orchestrated by waves of successive neoliberal governments beset by global economic challenges but committed to ideological policy solutions’ (Carr and Beckett, 2018: 1).

The school system in Ireland

There are two major categories of schools in Ireland: primary schools and post-primary schools. In this section, we outline provisions at both levels.

Primary schools in Ireland

Primary schools enrol students aged from six years to 12 years. Students may attend infant classes in primary schools after their fourth birthday (DOE, 2020a). Five hundred and sixty thousand students attend primary schools.

State-funded primary schools number approximately 3100 and range in size from under 10 students to over 900 students (DOE, 2020b). In addition, there are approximately 135 primary-level special schools attended by some 8350 students (DOE, 2020b). There are also 34 private primary schools, which cater for 7610 students.

Almost 90% of primary schools are controlled by the Catholic Church and 3% by the Church of Ireland (Connolly et al., 2023). Approximately 8% of primary schools are non/multi-denominational (DOE, 2020b). This relatively new type of primary school provides an education that is not founded on religion-based models.

The owners of state-funded Catholic and Church of Ireland schools are usually the diocesan trustees. Non/multi-denominational schools typically have a board nominated by non-church-based patron bodies such as: Educate Together; Education and Training Boards (ETBs), which are the Irish local education authorities; and An Foras Pátrúnachta, which is a limited company that supports Irish-medium schools. These schools are usually owned by a limited company, a board of trustees or an ETB. The schools are inspected by the Central Government Department of Education (DOE).

Voluntary secondary schools and post-primary schools in Ireland

Voluntary secondary schools are referred to as secondary schools, while ETB, Community Schools, Community Colleges and ETB schools are usually referred to as post-primary schools. They all cater to students aged 12 years and above. Post-primary education consists of a three-year Junior Cycle (lower secondary), followed by a two- or three-year Senior Cycle (upper secondary) depending on whether students take the optional Transition Year, which gives them the opportunity to experience a wide range of educational provisions, including work experience. There are 723 state-funded post-primary schools (DOE, 2020c). They comprise secondary schools, often referred to as voluntary secondary schools, ETB schools and comprehensive and community schools.

Voluntary secondary schools number 381 or 52% of the total (DOE, 2020c). They are owned and managed by religious orders, the local bishop, or other religious denominations. These secondary schools educate approximately 55% of students, with the state funding teachers’ salaries and 95% of other expenses in schools in the so-called free-education system. They used to provide a mainly academic education but now their curriculum is broader. Schools outside the free-education system require students to pay fees.

ETB schools are owned and managed by ETBs and educate around 28% of students. Created in 2013, they are responsible for 246 schools, 34% of the total (DOE, 2020c) and are largely funded by the DOE. These schools provide a range of academic and practical subjects.

The 96 comprehensive schools and community schools constitute 13% of the total, educate around 16% of students and are financed by the DOE (DOE, 2020c). Comprehensive schools were first established in 1964 (Coolahan et al., 2017) and the first community school was opened in 1972 (RTE Archives, 1972). Community schools provide a broad curriculum for all the young people in a community.

Importantly, in the post-primary sector in Ireland, the Catholic Church is either the patron or co-patron in 48% of the schools and 3% are controlled by the Church of Ireland. Religious institutions thus have a very significant role in the governance of schools in Ireland controlling approximately 92% of primary schools and 51% of post-primary schools.

The role of the central government and the religious denominations in the Irish school system

ó Beacháin (2019: 2) describes the government of Ireland as ‘centralized to an extent almost unrivalled in a democracy’ and that this centralised power has been ‘ringfenced by a weak legislature and feeble local government’. This degree of centralisation is evident in the central government's role in the governance of the school system in Ireland, but religious institutions also have a national role. In addition, the proportional representation electoral system has influenced school governance. It makes members of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament), acutely sensitive to any changes to local schools that may impact on their election prospects as well as making central government cautious about radical policy developments.

In practice, the central government's DOE has ‘little control over the management of national or secondary schools’ with control ‘generally vested in the clergy of various denominations’ (Lee, 1989: 129). The denominational nature of a school’ influences their overall ethos and values, although the subjects taught, other than religion, follow a curriculum prescribed by the DOE for all publicly funded schools (DOE, 2020d). Denominational schools can prioritise the admission of students of the given denomination but cannot refuse to admit students on religious grounds.

The DOE has no power to investigate boards of management (Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection, 2014) and local government has very limited influence on education. Since the establishment of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary sector in 2011, and the increasing diversity in the membership of Dáil Éireann and political parties, school patronage has become a significant policy issue.

Key features of school governing in Ireland

The way school governing in Ireland is structured is broadly similar for all schools. Key players are the patron; the trustees; the board of management; and the school principal. This structure has evolved over time and was given statutory effect by the 1998 Education Act (Darmody and Smyth, 2013). In this section, we consider these important features of the Irish school governing system.

The role of the patron and school governing

The 1998 Education Act specifies the patron of a school as the entity that establishes the school. The patron appoints the board of management and determines the school's ethos (DOE, 2021a). Thus, school patrons have a central role in school governing in Ireland. It is a role that is not common in the governance of schools in other countries (Coolahan et al., 2017). That role is significant in terms of accountability and school patrons are important stakeholders. The extent to which they are able to ‘coordinate across decision-makers, governance levels and policies’, which is central to a whole system perspective on governance (OECD, 2021b: 1) is open to question.

The patron may be an individual recognized by the central government as such; a group the members of which are appointed as trustees or as the board of governors of a post-primary school or if there are no such trustees or board; the owner of the school; or the person who requested recognition of the school or a nominee of such a person. Patrons might manage the school personally or they might appoint a board of management. The patron can remove the board of management with the approval of, or at the request of, the Minister and take over managing the school or appoint another board.

For denominational primary schools, the patron is typically a cleric or a leading religious figure (Citizens Information, 2021b). Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops are usually the patrons of the schools in their diocese. Parish priests, rectors or ministers typically undertake some of the responsibilities of the patron on behalf of the bishops. For denominational post-primary schools, the patron is usually a religious trust company, the bishop of the diocese, or a religious order. The patron of a non-/multi-denominational school is usually the board of trustees, Educate Together or the ETB. Gaelscoileanna, the Irish language-medium schools may be under the patronage of the church but may opt to be under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta (AFP). Since 2016, ETBs have been designated as patrons of community national schools in Ireland.

The trustees

The trustees, who are the owners of denominational schools, are involved in the management of the school and the board of management (Citizens Information, 2021a). Their involvement includes the selection of principals and deputy principals; teacher disciplinary processes; approving the school development plan; drawing up the school's admissions policy and other important policies; curriculum and timetabling matters; the evaluation of the school's progress; the school's finances including receiving the board's budget, financial statement, and audit reports; and changes to the school buildings. Importantly, trustees may dissolve a board of management with the approval of, or at the request of, the Minister. The role of trustees in enhancing stakeholder involvement and in the accountability role is significant.

Boards of management and school governing

The boards of management of all Irish secondary schools must include parent and teacher representatives (DOE, 2021b), which helps to ensure stakeholder involvement. Primary schools are not required to have such boards. The patron has the right to decide, and, in most instances, primary schools do have boards and when they do they typically have parent, teacher and community representatives. (Citizens Information, 2021b). The boards of management of ETB schools are sub-committees of the ETB. Membership of these boards includes ETB nominees and parent, teacher, and community representatives. Community colleges under the patronage of ETBs have boards of management.

According to the 1998 Education Act, boards of management have a duty to manage the school on behalf of the patron and for the benefit of the students and their parents in line with central government policies (DOE, 2021b). In fulfilling this duty, the board is accountable to the patron for upholding the characteristic spirit of the school. Thus, in Catholic schools, the board is required to uphold a Catholic ethos and in a Church of Ireland school the Church of Ireland ethos. Here the accountability of boards of management to the church especially the Catholic Church is made apparent.

The role of the Catholic Church in the governance of schools in Ireland

Historically, Catholic schools were established and run at the discretion of the dioceses and various religious congregations, for example, the Jesuits. As the concept of patronage developed, representatives of the Catholic Church came to the fore as school patrons. Although the role of religious patrons was originally to control religious education, patrons gradually extended their influence on all aspects of school education (Collins and Meehan, 2020). The Catholic Church sought to encourage a religious ethos in their schools, by for example requiring that each day, and frequently each lesson, started with prayers. The role of the state increased but the Catholic Church continued to assert its influence. By the 1970s, although the state recognised the denominational character of the school system, it made no provision for parents who did not want their children to attend denominational schools (Faas et al., 2016).

The provision of multi/non-denominational schools has grown in recent times and relatively quickly (Girvin, 2018; Griffin et al., 2019; ó Corráin, 2018). By 2018, the proportion of secondary-level Catholic schools had decreased to just over 50%. In addition, the number of parents not wanting their children to receive religious teaching has grown and they have become more vocal (Griffin, 2019). However, while the demand for Catholic schools remains strong, within the Catholic Church the diminishing role of the church is accepted (Griffin, 2019).

In 2011, the government established a Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector. The publication of the Forum's Report in 2012 (DOE, 2012) created a debate about school patronage generally. The report recommended the divestment of Catholic primary schools and the creation of multi-denominational and non-denominational schools. However, by 2019 only eight schools had been divested to Educate Together (Educate Together, 2021).

Government policy now aims to establish 400 non/multi-denominational by 2030 (Irish Examiner, 2016). In addition to ETBs, other organizations such as AFP and Educate Together have grown in importance as school patrons. The diversification process in areas of growing population will be sustained through a decision-making procedure that allocates patronage for new schools. This procedure enables parents/guardians to choose their preferred model of patronage (DOE, 2022). Importantly, the patronage process is overseen by an independent advisory body, the New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG).

Many have argued that progress on the Government's intention to increase the number of non-religious patrons has been too slow. Thus, O’Toole (2019: 1) has asserted that ‘Ireland's attempts to secularise its schools have turned to farce’ in response to what she termed ‘disinformation’ circulated by the Catholic Church in the face of the Government's proposals.

The diversification process involving the Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) is a significant development in the way school patronage is now decided. Instead of a patron deciding to establish a school in an area, local parents are offered a choice of interested patrons and their choice is then translated into a decision by DOE. Parents can also change the patronage of an existing school. These processes dilute the influence of powerful patrons and allow for a changed Irish society to influence patronage through parental choice (O’Brien, 2023).

The challenges of falling rolls in rural areas have also enabled progress. For example, recently, four schools have moved to ETB patronage and have benefitted in terms of an increase in student numbers (McBride and O’Brien, 2022). These initiatives have been specifically catered for in the new state policy (DOE, 2020d). Critically, these local developments show that the most likely solution for changing primary school patronage in rural areas is for schools under Catholic patronage to become community national schools with the ETB as a patron.

Despite these developments in the diversification of school patronage, a recently published survey carried out by the Catholic Church reveals the complex nature of parental choice. Although based on a small sample, the survey showed that many parents in local communities are reluctant to change the patronage of their school. As regards school choice, parents were more concerned about other factors such as a school's location, academic reputation and student discipline (Connolly et al., 2023).

Within the Catholic Church, there remains some resistance to changes to the Church's traditional position. Nonetheless, the former Archbishop of Dublin has argued that preparation for certain religious sacraments should take place in the community rather than schools as have the Association of Catholic Priests (O’Brien, 2019). This proposal has been welcomed by teachers who feel unhappy about teaching students religious doctrines they disagree with. Parents who do not wish their children to have what they see as religious indoctrination also welcome the proposal (O’Brien, 2019).

Despite these examples of diversification, the patron of most primary schools continues to be the Catholic Church and ‘multidenominational primary schools are much more likely to be oversubscribed than Catholic schools, according to unpublished data collected by the Department of Education’ (O’Brien, 2023: 1). As a result, non-Catholic children often have to attend Catholic schools, especially in rural areas and smaller urban centres. This situation, together with significant criticisms of the Catholic Church, has helped to generate an increasingly strident debate about diversifying patrons and their role. Nonetheless, the church, especially the Catholic Church, has a central role in accountability in the education system. Its ability to engage stakeholders, and to ensure appropriate developments across the whole system remains but is increasingly under scrutiny. Hence the emerging sense of crisis within the current arrangements.

Reflections

The school sector in the Irish education system faces considerable challenges. The privatization and marketisation of education have increased, with greater emphasis on school performance, parental choice, and the role of the principal. These changes are evidence of a growth in neoliberalism in the education sector generally (Lynch et al., 2012; Skerritt, 2019). In parallel with these changes, the future role of churches, especially the Catholic Church, presents additional challenges and raises important questions in relation to the governance of schools.

The Irish government has increased its influence on the education system, and the governance role of churches, and in particular the Catholic Church, has declined. Nonetheless, the influence of the Catholic Church remains very significant. This influence has substantial implications for accountability, stakeholder involvement and a whole system perspective. These are the three OECD goals that are our framework for considering the appropriateness of the extensive role of the church in educational governance in Ireland OECD (2021b). Arguably, the continuing substantial involvement of the Catholic Church in school governance skews accountability configuring inappropriately what is rendered in an account of the schools’ work and to whom that account is provided. The heavy involvement of the church prioritises it as the dominant stakeholder, arguably at the expenses of other non-religious stakeholders. Finally, the church's considerable involvement restricts and distorts the whole system’s perspective. Inevitably, it has a narrow and particular view that constrains its authority ‘to coordinate across decision-makers, governance levels and policies’ (OECD, 2021b: 1).

Thus, our review and analysis raise serious questions about how the Irish system measures up against the criteria of accountability, stakeholder involvement and the perspective of a national system identified in the OECD Strategic Education Governance Project (OECD, 2021a; 2021b). Arguably, the greatest failing is evident when school governance is examined from a system perspective. Clearly, the dominance of the Catholic Church as the patron of schools particularly at the primary level is untenable. One outcome of the dominant position of the Catholic Church as a school patron is the corresponding weakness of the other stakeholders, especially parents, students, and managers. The government needs to amend the existing legislation to redefine the role and powers of patrons and accelerate the rebalancing of the distribution of school patronage to reflect the diverse, multi-cultural nature of Irish society. The Catholic Church is prepared to move. It is time for the state to abandon its incremental approach and change the law on school patronage.

Concluding comments

In this article, we have analysed school governance in Ireland and the challenges it faces. We have examined the various debates and discussions around reforming those governance arrangements, especially those relating to the role of the church, and the Catholic Church in particular. Even if the government's target to increase the number of non-/multi-denominational schools is reached, approximately 85% schools of primary schools will still be church schools. Hence the government's current strategy is inadequate and does not reflect the changing nature of Irish society. There are however some reasons to be cautiously optimistic as follows:

the system of parental choice in new schools and the ‘reconfiguration’ option for existing schools;

the development of a realistic alternative to Catholic patronage with the introduction of community national schools in 2008 under the patronage of ETBs;

the scale and geographical spread of ETBs, means that they can act as patrons for a large number of primary schools in every part of the country;

the stated desire of the Catholic Church to give up the patronage of so many schools;

the growing strength and sophistication of multi/non-denominational patron bodies and the fundamentally changed nature of Irish society.

Nonetheless, our overall conclusion is that the present situation is not sustainable and that a crisis in school patronage is on the horizon.