Health Minister Simon Harris has given his public backing to parents protesting enrolment policies designed to protect the ethos of a Church of Ireland school. The Minister for Health made his intervention on Friday as the school in Greystones is located in his constituency.

Minister Harris said many parents in the town contacted him who were very upset about the admissions policies at St Patrick’s primary school. He was referring to a policy of giving enrolment priority to children whose families are active members of the local COI parish. The protestors say the policy is new; the board of management say it has been in place for some time. Mr Harris said he intends to write to the Department of Education as he “does not believe these changes are in line with, at the very least, the spirit and intention of recent legislation”. That legislation prohibited Catholic schools from using parish involvement as a factor in enrolment, but it does allow minority Christian denominations and minority faiths to do so as a means of protecting their characteristic ethos.

Over the weekend, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin weighed in on the matter in support of the board of management. He refused to dissolve the board despite the protests by parents. In a statement, Archbishop Jackson – the school’s patron – acknowledged that while St Patrick’s was facing challenging times, there was no evidence that the board was “dysfunctional”.

“In this instance, while the patron is aware that there are many different points of view, he has not been provided with any information that would indicate that the functions of the board of management are not currently being effectively discharged”. He added: “The Church of Ireland ethos of the school and decisions made by the board of management in the past remain unchanged. The board of management will continue to manage the school and the school will continue to educate the children entrusted to its care.”