Although religious orders still play a significant role in educating the nation's children, changes such as falling vocations and greater partnership in education have affected the extent and nature of their ongoing participation. One of the consequences has been a change in the traditional career path for teachers from religious orders with younger religious, such as Loreto's Sister Marie Celine Clegg, spreading their wings in new directions.

Sister Marie Celine has already been principal at two Loreto schools, she has completed a master's degree in Education at Trinity College, Dublin, she sits on the boards of management of three schools and her "day job" is as education development officer in the Loreto Education Office which supports the order's schools throughout Ireland.

Clegg is also the recently retired president of both the Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools and the Joint Managerial Body (which represents all voluntary post primary schools) and she is closely involved with other Loreto-backed education initiatives such as the very successful Homework Club started by Sister Aisling Duignan and Sister Pauline Logue in Fatima Mansions in Dublin four years ago.

The idea was to provide children in the area with a place to do their homework that is welcoming, friendly and supportive. The Homework Club now has around 100 children on its books and Clegg is particularly pleased that Loreto was able to play its part in helping to get the initiative off the ground.

"Two of our sisters expressed an interest in moving into the flats and looking at ways in which they could be of assistance to the local community. They didn't impose themselves, they just waited to see what would happen and they found that the children were coming in to see them after school and bringing their homework," Clegg says.

"That was the start of an idea which has grown and grown in partnership with parents and other members of the local community. The funding for the initiative came from Loreto, the VEC and the local partnership and there has been huge support from volunteer teachers from local schools. We sincerely hope that what has been achieved here can be used as a model and applied elsewhere," she says.

Born in Wexford and educated (at boarding school) by the Loreto order, she was inspired to consider a vocation by the "energy and dynamism" of the sisters she encountered at school. "Joining a religious order was the furthest thing from my mind for most of my time in school. But as it was coming towards the time to leave and I was thinking about my future, I began to really notice what was around me for the first time. I decided the sisters had something special that was worth looking into," she says.

Clegg joined the order from school and completed her formation at Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Dublin. She was very good at languages and an arts degree at UCD looked a likely option, but as Loreto needed science teachers at the time it was decided that Clegg should study science instead.

After graduating, she taught for seven years at Loreto in Milford, Co Donegal, which has since become a community school. "My passion for education really began there," she says. "I loved teaching and the whole teaching experience and that has stayed with me even though my life in education has since moved on in other directions."

A year each in Loreto on the Green in Dublin and Loreto in Dalkey, Co Dublin, followed Donegal and Clegg was subsequently posted back to Milford as principal where she remained for a further seven years. By the time she left in 1985, the school had almost doubled in size to 850 pupils.

Time out to study for an MEd at Trinity College followed and Clegg describes the MEd as "a turning point" for her. "It broadened my whole outlook and encouraged me to look critically at the vast expanse of what constitutes educational thought and theory," she says.

Although students normally take two years' leave to do the MEd, Clegg was roped back into active service after one year. The Loreto school in North Great George's Street, Dublin, was to be relocated to a greenfield site in Swords and Clegg was put in charge of the huge logistical operation.

She delayed the thesis part of her master's for a year and oversaw the school's move (with 380 pupils) to Swords.

In 1992 she took a half year sabbatical to attend the school of applied theology at Berkeley University in California, which she describes as "a wonderful experience". "The interaction with students from all over the world was so enriching and it was great to be out of `the system' for a while and to have the opportunity to stretch the brain in other directions."

Clegg left Swords in 1997 and was appointed as Loreto's education development officer shortly afterwards. She is now based at the order's education office in Foxrock, Dublin, and she lives in Bray, Co Wicklow, with another sister in a suburban setting.

Loreto has a network of 32 schools around the State (and two in Northern Ireland) and it is also closely involved with four community schools. Clegg spends a lot of her time on the road visiting schools and keeping in touch with what's happening at the grass roots.

`Things have changed a lot in education both at a management and structural level and among the student body. Today's principals and teachers are facing a very different world to that of 10 or 20 years ago and it's not an easy one," she admits. "One hears a lot of gloom and doom about the way things are going and there are undoubtedly problems. But overall I remain optimistic for the future when I see the levels of interest, the commitment and the willingness of many students still to participate in school life."