Catholic parents should not have to “settle for being second-class citizens” in respect of their right to Catholic  schools, the Primate of All-Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady (pictured) has said.

He was responding to remarks made by DUP leader Peter Robinson in which the Northern Ireland First Minister described education provision for Church schools as “a benign form of apartheid”.

Speaking at an Irish inter-church meeting in Swords, Co Dublin yesterday, Dr Brady said: “Catholic schools are very dear to the people of Northern Ireland. This is a justice issue and there is no reason why we should settle for being second-class citizens in this issue and settling for a denial of our rights which would be available to us if we were in Scotland, Wales or England.

Facing a torrent of opposition from Catholic principals over his remarks, Mr Robinson said he recognised the right of Catholic parents to send their children to church schools, but he objected to the state paying for them, according to an Irish Times report.

However, Cardinal Brady said Mr Robinson’s comments had provoked “distrust and suspicion” among many Catholics who, he said, would not accept any scrapping of state funding.

The DUP leader had “set back” debate on the future of education in Northern Ireland, the primate said of Mr Robinson’s speech.

He added: “I’m quite sure the Catholic people are not going to lie down on this issue.”

Mr Robinson responded last night, saying: “The Catholic Church may want to retain its school system and I would not want to stop them. But we as a society have to deal with the division that we have and we also have to deal with the financial cost of having three or four separate education sectors. We have to deal with these issues. We can’t bluster our way through these issues. We will have to deal with them.”

The DUP later issued a statement, insisting Mr Robinson’s comments were nothing other than an attempt to promote honest debate on “a moral and financial” subject.

Assembly member Alistair Ross hit back at the cardinal, saying he should “welcome the debate about the future of education and recognise the progress in Northern Ireland which allows a debate about bringing down the barriers in education”.

Mr Ross added: “We cannot expect to end the division in our society if we continue to separate our children on their first day at school.”

He continued: “Why would any society want to perpetuate and sustain division? We would not allow and even consider such a system at university level so therefore we should take the next decade to reconsider our approach.”

Mr Robinson’s speech was not an attack on church schools, he said. “Rather it was a speech setting out the need to deal with segregation amongst our children.”