Catholic school principals have attacked First Minister Peter Robinson after he said Catholic schools foster a type of “apartheid” and that State funding of such schools should end.

The Catholic Principals Association (CPA) accused Mr Robinson of “rabble rousing” in a manner which was “a throw back to the bad old days of religious intolerance”.

Citing the need to cut costs, Mr Robinson had claimed it was “absurd” to allow different education sectors, and he urged the creation of a single body to oversee all schools, the Irish Times reports.

Head of the CPA, Dr Séamus Quinn said the First Minister was seeking to remove from parents the right to choice in the education of their children. “The fundamental right of parents to seek a faith-based education for their child must be acknowledged,” Dr Quinn said..

Dr Quinn continued: “Students from these successful Catholic schools challenged the blatant social injustices facing the minority population and have, in no small measure, transformed Northern Ireland,” he said.

“It was as late as the 1990s before Catholic schools finally achieved parity of funding with state schools. However, the years of chronic under-investment by the state in Catholic schools has yet to be fully addressed.”

Sinn Féin and the SDLP have also criticised Mr Robinson. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said he believed the First Minister was “making a mistake”.

“If you go for a head-on collision with the so-called vested interests, that is a collision course which will lead us into a total and absolute mess,” he warned.

On Sunday, Bishop McKeown insisted that the right of parents to send their children to “faith schools” was guaranteed by the European Convention for Human Rights.

“It is also the hallmark of a stable and pluralist society.”

Bishop McKeown pointed out that parents who choose faith-based schools for their children paid taxes toward the provision of that education, and the Catholic Church has also contributed substantial funding and resources for the provision of Catholic schools over generations, which had ultimately saved the taxpayer money.

Rejecting Mr Robinson’s accusations, he said Catholic schools were committed to welcoming pupils of all backgrounds and to building a cohesive society in the service of the common good.

Mr Robinson made his controversial remarks at a speech in Belfast on Friday marking the installation of a DUP mayor in the borough of Castlereagh