With Catholic schools making up 90 percent of the primary schools in the country, the goal is to reduce the number to 50 to 60 percent of the total, Batt O'Keefe, Ireland's minister of education and science, told the annual meeting of the Catholic Primary School Managers Association March 5.
O'Keefe said the proposal that the church close a large portion of its schools was first raised by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin.
The process is driven by shrinking enrollment because of changing demographics in Irish cities, O'Keefe said. Ireland also has seen a marked increase in Eastern European and non-Catholic immigrants during the last 20 years. Taking low-wage jobs, the newcomers are unable to afford the cost of a private education.
Work began on identifying the communities where schools needed to close after a November meeting between government officials and representatives of the Irish bishops and religious orders. O'Keefe said closings would begin in urban areas on a trial basis.
"My department will shortly be providing an initial list of about 10 urban areas that can be used to test the concept," O'Keefe said.
Urban areas were targeted deliberately, the minister said.
"While over 90 percent of existing primary school provision may be Catholic, the reality is that many of those schools are stand alone rural schools and therefore do not come under consideration," he said.
"Where there are four or five schools in an area and all of them are Catholic schools, allowing for 80 percent demand for Catholic (education), at least one of the five schools in that parish or part of a diocese will not be needed to meet Catholic needs," he explained. "If in the same locality demand from Catholics fell to 60 percent, then two of the five schools could be surplus."
O'Keefe told the school managers that the process of deciding which schools to close will include consultation with parents and school staff members as well as discussions within parishes and dioceses.
Catholic Schools Partnership chairman Father Michael Drumm told Catholic News Service the church welcomes "the prospect of greater diversity of school provision."
"The minister's mention of an eventual reduction of Catholic provision in demographically stable urban areas to 60 percent needs to be verified on the basis of assessment of parental choice. We have not yet seen any research from the Department of Education and Science to support this figure," he said.
The school partnership was established early in 2010 by the bishops to represent the views of all parties involved in Catholic education.
"We all agree that there is over provision of Catholic primary schools, but what about Catholic secondary education?" Father Drumm asked. "There has not been one Catholic secondary school established in the last 20 years."
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