The divestment of Catholic schools to other patron bodies must stop until the Government gives a guarantee that the State will not attempt to undermine the Catholic identity of remaining schools, leading education experts have warned. Then the handovers should be ramped up significantly, they say.

Professors Patrick Connolly, Eugene Duffy and Eamonn Conway say the “clock is ticking” for Catholic education because while the process of handing over some schools to State control drags on, calls for the “removal of all religious ethos from schools” are likely to grow.

However, to preserve a core of Church-run schools, they say that up to two-thirds of Catholic primary schools would need to be divested.

The Church has to negotiate a settlement to safeguard the future of Catholic education or else see its patronage “eroded” by legislation and curriculum changes, they warn.

To not do so would be “the worst of both worlds for the Church’s mission: in charge of Catholic schools but not in control, yet without a meaningful voice in their own schools,” warn the three influential academics.