THE EDUCATION PROFILE: BISHOP LEO O'REILLY, CHAIRMAN OF THE BISHOPS' COMMISSION FOR EDUCATION:As keeper of the Catholic flame, Bishop Leo O'Reilly is keen to ensure that matters of faith are still given robust consideration in a new educational landscape which reflects the diversity of a new Ireland, writes Patsy McGarry

AT A RECENT history seminar in Trinity College Dublin, biographer Anthony Jordan recalled "life as it used to be" when it came to the Catholic bishops in Ireland. He remembered a talk at a 1955 conference by the then Bishop of Cork and Ross, Most Rev Cornelius Lucey. Referring to the Mother and Child scheme opposed by the Catholic bishops and which in 1951 brought down the State's first inter-party government, Lucey noted that "the church was not just one group among the many groups making up the State, but had a firmer and broader base than any of them.

Thus it was that when the bishops in this country took a stand not so long ago on the Health Bill (ie what had been the Mother and Child scheme), they were not acting as a mere pressure group: they were not exercising the democratic right they undoubtedly had as citizens to make representations directly to the Government. They intervened on the higher ground that the church is the divinely appointed guardian and interpreter of the moral law . . . In a word, their position was that they were the final arbiters of right and wrong, even in political matters. In other spheres, the State might for its own good reason ignore the advice of the experts, but in faith and morals it might not."

This unequivocal position was accompanied by a certain style which concerned at least some of the then bishops. For instance, a contemporary description of archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid, described him as "a man of great energy, ability and (as far as personal contact was concerned) suavity and charm . . . the most prominent of his aims was to make the Catholic Church the unchallenged arbiter of all questions in which it could reasonably claim to have an interest . . . This attitude was not enunciated with any arrogance, or even very explicitly, but it was implemented by continuous hints, directives and pressures."

Also noted was that "McQuaid's inflexibility on paper contrasted strangely with his accommodating attitude in personal interview".

McQuaid was a Cavan man. So, too, is the chairman of the Bishops' Commission for Education, the Bishop of Kilmore, Most Rev Leo O'Reilly, as is the Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady. It would be fair to say that all three share the characteristic of having an "accommodating attitude in personal interview". All three also share characteristics of personal charm and all have also shown a certain inflexibility when it comes to the bottom line. But there the comparisons end.

Our latter-day Cavan-born senior churchmen would recoil from any claim that they might be among "the final arbiters of right and wrong, even in political matters." And it would be wrong to conclude that the most prominent of their aims is "to make the Catholic Church the unchallenged arbiter of all questions in which it could reasonably claim to have an interest".

An example of this would be the current Irish Catholic bishops' view on education, which was articulated by Bishop O'Reilly on October 2nd, 2007, when he launched the church's document Catholic Primary Schools - A Policy for Provision into the Future. He said the church had no desire to be the sole provider of education in individual communities in Ireland. The document stated that "in new centres of population it is incumbent upon the State to plan for the provision of school sites and to ensure . . . that there is a plurality of school provision reflecting the wishes of the parents in the area".

In practice, however, other education providers, while acknowledging the Catholic Church's recognition of the need for plurality of school provision in the new Ireland, fear that the church's insistence on Catholic instruction during the school day in new State community schools could turn such schools into de facto Catholic schools, particularly as no other denomination or faith insists on such provision. They also fear that this insistence could render the new schools economically untenable, through the requirement for extra staff.

Early last year, Bishop O'Reilly also welcomed an announcement by then minister for education Mary Hanafin of a pilot model of primary-school patronage under the VEC at Diswellstown in Dublin. It represented the first proposed direct State involvement in management at primary-school level since primary schools were first set up in Ireland, along denominational lines, in 1831.

Despite this, some in education circles would place O'Reilly in the "what we have, we hold" wing of Irish Catholic bishops, a minority of whom, it is felt, would be more genuinely pluralist when it comes to provision of schools.

Still, one major player in Irish education commented: "The Catholic Church is very lucky to have him in that role, particularly where his style [of working] is concerned. He is a very gentle character, personality-wise. From his own experience in education, he has a good understanding of the issues involved. He is very strong on Catholic education and a very good advocate at a personal level. He is clear about what would work in new developments, but his main concern was that there would be no religion taught in the new schools. On the other hand he is very willing to accept that there has to be change where old-style Catholic schools are concerned."

Another major player in Irish education has found Bishop O'Reilly "very approachable. You can pick up the phone to him any time. He is a strong character, calm, collected, calculating, not in a devious sense, but in that you feel he is weighing things up all the time. He is a reserved man, even shy, but very determined. And he is always very supportive of teachers. He is a pluralist, but also believes the Catholic religion should be taught in schools (i.e. during the school day). He is a straight-up, decent sort of bloke. You know where you stand with him."

One insider, who would have frequently been on opposite sides to O'Reilly in discussions, finds him "a very pleasant, friendly man and one of the major thinkers for the Catholic Church's agenda in education this past 10 years." But he queried whether the Bishop's insistence on Catholic instruction in State primary schools was legally sustainable, not least as no other church or faith is seeking such privileges. It was also a concern, he said, that in their October 2007 policy document the Catholic bishops reiterated the obligation on Catholic parents to send their children to the local Catholic school.

This had caused "extensive hurt" among devout Catholics who were sending their children to alternative schools. In general, though, this person had "the highest regard" for Bishop O'Reilly, who was "a very warm, intelligent man."

Bishop Leo O'Reilly was born on April 10th, 1944 and grew up on a small farm in Kill, near Cootehill - the town where archbishop McQuaid was from. His father, Terence, was an insurance agent and his mother, Maureen, was principal of the national school in Kill. His paternal grandmother, uncle and aunt were all primary school principals.

Ordained from Maynooth in 1969, where he had taken a science degree, he returned to his alma mater, St Patrick's Diocesan College in Cavan, and spent seven years there teaching maths, science and Christian doctrine.

Cardinal Brady was also a teacher at St Patrick's at the time. Bishop O'Reilly then spent five years in the Irish College in Rome, receiving a doctorate in biblical theology in 1982. Cardinal Brady was by then vice-rector at the Irish College.

After Rome, O'Reilly was appointed school chaplain in Bailieborough Community School in Cavan, where he stayed for seven years until he volunteered to go to Nigeria in 1988.

He spent two years in the Diocese of Minna, northern Nigeria, and five years on the staff of St Paul Seminary in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, where he taught scripture. In 1995 he was appointed parish priest of Ballyhaise Co Cavan, succeeding Cardinal Brady, who had been ordained Co-adjutor Archbishop of Armagh, and in February 1997 O'Reilly was installed as Coadjutor Bishop of Kilmore. He was installed as Bishop of Kilmore on November 15th 1998.

On a more personal level, and like Cardinal Seán Brady, Bishop O'Reilly is very interested in sport, particularly Gaelic football, as well as soccer, golf and walking. Despite his science background, he is a man with a deep interest in the humanities, particularly languages, and of late the classical music fan has been taking his holidays in the Donegal Gaeltacht.

Responding to diversity

"Catholic schools seek to reflect a distinctive vision of life and a corresponding philosophy of education, based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Bishops's Vision '08 document, published last May

"In an increasingly multicultural society, Catholic schools welcome pupils of other traditions, faiths and none. The schools see such diversity as offering opportunities for deeper understanding among people holding diverse convictions. Such diversity also promotes the common good of society as a whole."  Bishops' Vision '08 document, published last May

"The Department of Education said it would 'consider' criticisms made yesterday by chair of the Bishops' Commission for Education Bishop Leo O'Reilly of the department's claimed policy preference for multi-denominational education." Department of Education reacts to criticisms by Bishop