Constraints should not be put on Catholic schools on how they celebrate their faith, the leader of Fianna Fáil, Michéal Martin, has said.

In an interview with this week’s Irish Catholic, Mr Martin said: “I don’t think any constraints should be put on Catholic schools on how they celebrate their Catholic faith.

His statements come after the Advisory Group to the Government-appointed Forum on Pluralism and Patronage made a number of recommendations which critics said would weaken the denominational identity of faith schools.

Mr Martin also insisted that parents must have the right to send their children to a school which reflects their ethos.

He said: “We have to be driven by the principle of parental choice, parents make this choice fundamentally. We can’t dictate from on high where parents send their children.”

And he rejected the notion that denominational primary schools were not inclusive, saying that the idea that there couldn’t be co-existence in a faith school was “not in touch with reality”.  

However he rejected the suggestion that Fianna Fáil’s recent bill to amend Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act would have undermined the ethos of denominational schools.

The provision currently allows religious institutions to refuse to hire people if they feel such a person would undermine that institution’s ethos. Mr Martin said he didn’t think Fianna Fail’s stance “contradicts the ethos of faith-based schools”.

Mr Martin suggested that current controversy over denominational schools was related to the Labour Party “fighting the battles of the 1970s. This is a battle that is long over”.  

And he criticised the decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore, to close the embassy to the Vatican, calling it “a very big mistake”.  

“It was unnecessary, the savings are not significant. The Vatican is a very important listening post and we’ve cut ourselves off from that,” he said.

The Advisory Group recommended the abolition of Rule 68, which allows denominational schools to permeate their day with their own ethos and the amendment of the Equal Status Act so that the right of such schools to admit children of their own faith first, will be curtailed.

In addition, it is suggested that denominational schools give equal prominence to the religious symbols of all faiths and that prayers be “respectful” of the beliefs of all children.

In comments last week, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn suggested that he disagreed with some of these recommendations.

In a debate in the Seanad on the Forum’s report, Mr Quinn said that he did not believe “we will get agreement from the Catholic community on the divesting of schools if it believes it is to be curtailed in terms of how it celebrates and teaches Catholicism to its own community”.