Sir, – Having recently submitted a number of applications to our local schools for my four-year-old son, I have to say I am furious about some of the factors I am forced to consider in deciding which to apply to.
Rather than evaluating which have the friendliest and most enthusiastic teachers, or the best facilities for sports and music, or the most progressive homework policies, I am forced to consider which of our local schools have their schoolday punctuated with the fewest prayers and church visits; which have the most thoughtful and inclusive measures to accommodate children who opt out of religious instruction; and which principals are the most understanding of and responsive to the concerns of parents.
My heart breaks to consider the possibility that my son may be one of a handful of children relegated to the back of the room to occupy themselves while the rest of the class is preparing for the sacraments, and I do not relish the idea that I will have to become the “difficult” parent who must inquire and badger the principal on this matter.
I am disgusted and baffled that an education system in a modern European country is permitted to perpetuate this kind of discrimination and “othering” of primary school children.
RM Block
The process of divestment from Catholic patronage has been an abject failure, but the process was fundamentally flawed to begin with: local parents should not be surveyed to gauge whether or not this outdated model of patronage should persist.
The whole point of equality is that a majority should not be able to impose a discriminatory system upon a minority, so to ask for a show of hands is to miss the point entirely.
Public education should be secular as a matter of principle. There is no human right to religious instruction within the education system.
If parents wish for their children to be active within the Church, then they should take them to a church. – Yours, etc,
DAVE McGINN,
Naas,
Co Kildare.
Vexing question of AI and schools
Sir, – Last week’s publication of the Department of Education’s Guidance on Artificial Intelligence in Schools Version 1 arrives over 18 months after it was promised by then minister for education, Norma Foley.
It is a document we desperately needed then. Now, it feels like a monument to a moment that has already well and truly passed.
School leaders and teachers already juggle countless responsibilities and now find themselves still in limbo when it comes to arguably the most pressing challenge in Irish education: directing and creating policies on AI use by teachers, but especially by students.
The classroom reality is stark. Every student with a smartphone has access to AI. These tools are full of bias, hallucination, misinformation and error. Yet most students lack the critical literacy to identify these flaws.
They cannot distinguish between content that sounds authoritative and content that is actually accurate.
Those using premium versions have significantly more advanced features than those relying on free tools, creating an equity issue the guidance does not address. How do teachers assess fairly? On both of these key aspects, the document falls very short.
All teachers, especially those with project components in their subjects, were hoping for clarity on how AI use by students would be treated in assessment. That would have seemed a natural inclusion. Instead, we are told that the SEC [State Examinations Commission] will publish a consolidated document on coursework completion “shortly”.
Teachers can be forgiven for asking: what does “shortly” actually mean? Could these not have been available at the start of the school year?
The guidance asks educators to consider the following key questions: “How would AI literacy be promoted in teaching and learning?” and “How can I help students understand the limitations of AI tools?”
But it offers no frameworks, no strategies, no practical guidance. It also fails to remove the second-guessing that will accompany any decision regarding the extent to which a student can or cannot use AI.
The document describes itself as “Version 1”. I sincerely hope Version 2 addresses these fundamental gaps. Our students are using these tools today. For many Leaving Certificate subjects, project work has already begun. We cannot afford to wait another 18 months for answers to the questions that define our daily teaching reality. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK HICKEY,
History and English teacher,
Knocknagree,
Co Cork.
Busby babes
Sir, – It is not generally known that my dad, Johnny Berry, had an Irish mother, Mary O’Connor, who was born in Luke Street, Dublin.
Although he was capped four times by England, where he was born, he always wished he could have played for Ireland, but qualification rules were different then.
He had a great career with Manchester United but not many people know that, as well as Liam Whelan and Jackie Blanchflower, there was another Irishman in the great Busby Babes team who was on the fateful Munich flight.
Now I have achieved Irish citizenship by descent, I think this fact should be more widely known. I am proud of my dad and proud to be Irish. – Yours, etc,
NEIL BERRY,
Hertfordshire,
England.
Don’t knock Knock Airport
Sir, – In his Irishman’s Diary of Friday, October 24th, Frank McNally describes Knock Airport as being located on a boggy hill somewhere between Charlestown and nowhere.
He mentions the critics (Jim Mitchell and Barry Desmond in particular if memory serves) who thought the site was not just too boggy but too foggy also.
Thankfully the airport got built despite the trenchant opposition and has been an extraordinary success for the northwest region, transformative both socially and economically. In addition to serving the people living in the region it serves the diaspora from the region, particularly those living in the UK.
It is a gem of an airport to transit through and must hold the record for the time taken from landing to collecting baggage and exiting the airport.
For Mr McNally’s information, Knock Airport is located just off the N17 national primary road that connects Sligo to Galway. It is 20km from Knock Shrine and 30km from Claremorris. It begs the question why describe it as being between Charlestown and nowhere – humorous possibly but extremely glib.
Maybe the next time Frank is struggling to find a subject to write about for his column he should pay a return visit to Knock Airport.
He could spend some time talking to passengers both departing and arriving, and observing the exceptional level of customer service provided by the airport staff. I have no doubt he could fill a column or two with a more informed perspective on what is an outstanding regional success story. – Yours, etc,
FELIM McNEELA,
Sligo.
Sir, – Can I express my outrage at Frank McNally’s suggestion that what he refers to as “Knock Airport” is located “halfway between Charlestown and nowhere”.
The airport in question is located between Charlestown and Kilkelly and, like many Kilkelly natives living in exile in Dublin and elsewhere, I have always thought of it as “Kilkelly International Airport”. – Yours, etc.
SHANE BUTLER,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Car registration number plates
Sir, – In a follow-up to your recent contributor’s letter on this topic: it baffles me how cars with non-conforming plates can drive freely with no Garda intervention. Is the unofficial Garda position to turn a blind eye?
In Germany, while it is a bit of a nuisance to have to re-register a car when bought second hand, requiring new number plates and a new number, what is very handy is that your road tax and NCT are all contained on the number plate in the form of two stickers on the rear plate and colour coded to indicate validity.
The benefit to the police is they can see easily from driving behind any car if it’s legally on the road.
So along with your contributor’s sensible passport office logic suggestion of numbering, perhaps we could also do away with the plethora of discs (which are squares) strewn across windshields. – Yours, etc,
SIMON BLAKE,
Munich,
Germany .
Assisted dying Bill’s lapse
Sir, – For the second time since 2020, a Private Member’s Bill on Voluntary Assisted Dying in Ireland has been allowed to lapse, ensuring no meaningful progress is made on this deeply sensitive and important issue.
Could it be that this repeated failure to progress the Bill is deliberate, in the cynical hope that the need will miraculously go away or that the majority of the population who understand that need will lose interest?
This apparent pattern of deferral is an insult to citizens in desperate need of the fundamental right to choose death with dignity rather than be forced or envisage being forced to continue on against their will to placate the beliefs or misgivings of others.
It is imperative that our political representatives do not kick this can down the road and instead commit to the immediate presentation and passage of the 2024 Bill through all stages of the legal process with the urgency it deserves. – Yours, etc,
SALLY O’KELLY,
Dublin 7.
