Why is there so little school choice in Dublin 8?

The capital’s south inner-city has long been markedly more diverse than the nation as a whole.  

Despite this, most schools are Catholic - even though a majority of locals do not adhere to the faith. 

“There are only five schools in the area, four of them are Catholic, one is Church of Ireland but we have no multi-denominational school,” mother Jane Toolan told Newstalk Breakfast.  

“The latest CSO figures show that Dublin 8, our area, is probably the most unCatholic area in the whole country with 62% identifying as not being Catholic.” 

Religion is not the only aspect in which there is a lack of diversity, with English language education the only option for children once they reach second-level. 

“We also don’t have a Gaelcholáiste, so we have a primary Gaelscoil but there’s no feeder school in Dublin 8 or the surrounding area for these kids to go to,” Ms Toolan said. 

“So, we feel we’ve been overlooked and our kids are facing extremely long commutes to be able to access multi-denominational education.”

Irish speaking primary school children.

For the Toolans, who want their daughter to continue to receive her education through Irish, they face an unpalatable choice when she leaves primary school. 

“I fear our child is being forced into a really long commute - which is going to be an hour and 10 minutes to a Gaelcholáiste in Rathfarnham on the bus,” Ms Toolan said. 

“Or that we are going to have to drive her - which is a lot of stress. 

“The commute would be halved if we drove her but we’re not always going to be available on the school morning to drive her.

“Nearly every option is either two buses or an hour away.” 

After a protest outside the Dáil last year, the Department of Education said it was keeping the number of Gaelcholáistí in south Dublin under review.

Main image: A primary school classroom during a lesson.