Parents in four areas around the country that are due to build new schools have started voting today [1] on the kind of ethos they would like their local school [2] 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.