Dublin archbishop: Government must tackle school-overcrowding problem

Published: 2007-09-12

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin urged the Irish government to address the overcrowding problem in Irish schools and said the church's role is not to provide schools for non-Catholics. In a Sept. 5 statement, Archbishop Martin said the overcrowding problem "is not as a result of the enrollment policy of the Archdiocese of Dublin or any other school patron. The problem is simply a lack of planning. "The fact is that there are more children who need to begin schooling than there are classrooms available, even though the statistics have been evident for some time," he said. "The Archdiocese of Dublin provides a Catholic education for those parents who want it. It has no desire to go beyond that or to be patron of any school where it is not the wish of parents. It is not the responsibility of the archdiocese to provide education for all," Archbishop Martin said. Ireland's Catholic religious congregations and parishes manage more than 70 percent of the country's primary schools. However, because many towns and suburbs in Ireland are experiencing population explosions fueled by the country's booming economy, many existing schools are filled to capacity.

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