A number of Catholic primary schools in Dublin are to remove priority entry for siblings.
It follows reports the Archdiocese of Dublin had asked schools to end the practice of giving places to the brothers and sisters of existing pupils.
The Archdiocese of Dublin is the patron body to over 90 per cent of schools in Dublin, Wicklow and parts of Kildare, Carlow, Laois and Wexford.
The archdiocese has told schools that operate 'sibling-first' policies to update their admissions structure to cater for all children in the local catchment area alongside children of siblings.
It will sign off on the new policies later this month and they will come into effect for the 2021/2022 school year.
Several schools told The Irish Times that they had operated sibling-first policies for years with no objections up until now.
Some school boards of management and principals have criticised the new policies.
We have to be open to first come, first served.
The principal of one Catholic school told The Irish Times: “There will be uproar among parents when this comes out. It means that families risk being split up. It undermines the sense of school community.”
A parents’ representative on one school board added: “The idea is that this will be more inclusive but it will have the opposite effect, and hugely inconvenience families and result in parents sending children to multiple different schools.”
Dublin priest, Father John Gilligan, claims it will only impact over-prescribed schools. He said: "With so many looking for places in schools, equality and the right for all to have the same opportunity [is important]. The day of just looking after one and other because of tradition is now gone. We have to be open to first come, first served."
