Parents in four areas around the country that are due to build new schools have started voting today on the kind of ethos they would like their local school to have. The Department of Education has launched a new “one-stop shop” website where parents can directly compare different patron bodies, whether religious-run or secular, and then register a preference.

The four schools, which will open in 2019, will serve communities in Dublin, Galway, Drogheda and Wicklow. A number of patrons have expressed an interest in running each of the schools and have supplied a range of information, such as about ethos, for the website. Parents will be able to choose a religious-run school or a multi-denominational or non-denominational patron, and an English or Irish-medium instruction.

Another voting process involving schools to be built in other areas will open later in the summer. The initiative is part of a process to decrease the number of denominational schools around the country.