A leading campaigner against the controversial 'Catholics first' policy in Irish schools has branded a Labour party pledge to reform the current system as an "election gimmick".
The comments come after Tanaiste Joan Burton promised to end the 'baptism barrier' to school entry if re-elected next year.
In a speech to young party members, Ms Burton said: "Parents shouldn't feel compelled to baptise their children just to get a school place."
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The party also plans to double the number of multi-faith schools in Ireland by 2021.
Under the current system, preferential admissions are given to children who've been baptised as Catholic in schools owned by the church where places are oversubscribed.
The sect currently governs 90% of the country's schools, sparking difficulties for parents of other religions or those who choose not to baptise their kids at all.
Labour is the first political party to announce plans to scrap the current policy as part of their upcoming election manifesto.
However the pledge has received a frosty response from Roopesh Panicker, a father who recently organised a march calling for an end to the current admissions system.
He told Newstalk.com: "I strongly believe that is just an election gimmick because they know that they are not going to win the same number of seats that they have right now.
"If they had any real intentions of doing something they would have done it in this government.
"I don’t think they have intentions to do anything on the matter."
Mr Panicker has campaigned tirelessly for reform of the current rules after his daughter, Eva, struggled to find a place at schools near their home because of her Hindu faith.
Scores of people attended a recent march to the Taoiseach's office in Dublin in support of Mr Panicker's plight.
Speaking about the wave of public support he received following the walk he added: "People are very open and supportive but there has to be a political will in order to change this.
"We can do marches and campaigns but until there is a strong political will, nothing will change."
Meanwhile it has emerged that Sinn Fein also plans to include a similar promise as part of their upcoming election pitch.
Sinn Féin education spokesperson Jonathan O'Brien said: “The latest comments from Tánaiste Joan Burton smack of desperation – her party could have easily addressed the religious discrimination in schools at any time during the last five years and deliberately chose not to.
“Instead, they [Labour] and Fine Gael have preoccupied themselves introducing austerity budgets and dismissing the concerns of parents who raised the matter that their four-year-olds are being discriminated against on religious grounds.
“For this reason Sinn Féin are committed to bringing forward our own legislation on this, and I would urge the government to allow our Bill to go forward as a starting point to fixing this archaic law that allows children to be excluded from schools on religious grounds.”
By Conor Sheils
