When the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment reviews the curriculum next year in order to reflect Ireland's multicultural society better, it could learn a thing or two from the British experience.
In a speech considered revolutionary when it was given 25 years ago, the former Labour prime minister, James Callaghan, outlined his vision of a new structure for the administration of education.
Callaghan not only tinkered with the theory of education but in the days before the National Curriculum he reached directly into the classroom by proposing a clear set of basic educational guidelines.
The so-called great debate on education, encouraged by Callaghan's speech, continues today. How much should parents expect from teachers? How far should government become involved in what goes on in the classroom?
In these days of league tables, numeracy and literacy hours, Callaghan's speech appears outdated. But a line from Callaghan - seeking to end years of non-intervention by government - to the National Curriculum and multiculturalism can be drawn.
As a framework for delivering a broad-based education, one of the basic tenets of the National Curriculum is that it acts as a mirror of Britain's multicultural society. So it is that multiculturalism in education, with its roots in the expansion of refugees settling in Britain after the second World War, seeks to challenge all forms of stereotyping whether on the grounds of race, gender or religion.
It is the school's responsibility to ensure teachers reflect social and cultural diversity in the classroom. But it is education policy at national and local level, reflected through the National Curriculum, that sets guidelines on avoiding stereotypical language in the classroom and cultural clashes over school uniforms.
Multiculturalism permeates the curriculum. In art lessons, teachers will bring artefacts from other European, African and Asian cultures to the classroom and students are encouraged to bring in objects specific to their ethnic backgrounds. But there is "no great sensor in the sky", the National Union of Teachers stresses. And apart from the set texts required by the GCSE and A level syllabuses, teachers get together in their own schools to decide which textbooks to use.
The value of a multicultural education is not in question. In a multicultural society, education plays a central role in the process of instilling respect and understanding. But the discussion in Britain is about how to satisfy the needs of minorities and majorities in the classroom.
Under the last Conservative government, schools were given a reading list of books to use in the classroom that the National Union of Teachers complained was "heavily Eurocentric". The list made it difficult for teachers to reflect the multicultural mix in schools. But their concern was not that the Tories were trying to destroy multiculturalism in education; the problem was the "narrowness" of the list. The book list was gradually broadened but in many ways the discussion has turned full circle with some parents and teachers increasingly concerned that British history and culture have been sidelined.
Though it may not be a direct result of what some on the right and the left believe is the marginalisation of British history, a recent survey of 1,000 15- to 24-year-olds by the Encyclopaedia Britannica appeared to confirm their fears.
Key events in British history were a mystery to young people with one in 12 saying they believed 1066 was the date of the Roman invasion of Britain while a third believed that D-Day was the end of the second World War. Many were confused about whether Henry VIII had six or eight wives and yet others didn't realise Queen Victoria had reigned for 64 years.
There is also the question of whether religious or single-faith schools discourage a multicultural outlook. In some "faith" schools in Britain where the opportunity to learn about "other" cultures and traditions is limited, children can become vulnerable to hostility.
Opportunity is stifled. Just as opportunity is stifled if white or English children do not learn about the Kosovan child who has joined the community beyond their classroom.
In the northern English cities of Leeds, Bradford and Oldham this summer, Asian and white communities were ruptured by racial conflict. But while a rise in support for the right-wing British National Party and poverty fed tensions between the two groups, highly segregated education underpinned mistrust between the communities.
In his pre-riot report on race relations in Bradford, Lord Herman Ouseley, former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, found widespread ignorance among students. Children attending the many "faith" schools in the area and schools which drew pupils only from the white or Asian community knew little about how children from other communities in their city lived their lives and there was a reluctance to challenge the status quo in Bradford.
Post-September 11th the discussion about multiculturalism has moved beyond society's responsibility to promote inclusiveness to consider questions of personal responsibility.
The outcry over a suggestion by Labour MP Ann Cryer that all new immigrants should learn English now sees the same proposal contained in asylum legislation before Parliament, and citizenship classes are set to become a statutory feature of the national curriculum and for all new immigrants next year.
Multiculturalism is embedded in the British education system. But it is striking a balance between the cultures and traditions of all pupils that is the most difficult challenge for schools and teachers.