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"In some cases you could have a Malaysian child who speaks only Malay at home, coming into an English speaking classroom where they have to learn Irish and Arabic."
Muhammad O'Curnain says the foundation has been given the go ahead from the Department of Education to present proposals for a Muslim secondary school. He does not see the segregation into Muslim schools as ghetto building. But he believes that children should be educated in a "Muslim environment".
"Our purpose with the new mosque is to share Islam." Most of the Irish Muslim community embraces the full teachings of Islam. All women wear veils once they reach puberty.
Muhammad argues that men also wear veils, invisible "veils over their conduct" over their eyes, which prevent them lusting after women. He says they are tolerant of Christians and he believes the religious devotion of Islam has a lot in common with the Catholicism of his parents.
One of the objectives behind the mosque is as an information centre for spreading the word of Islam. "The prophecy is that people in the West will convert to Islam and they'll accept the religion.
He believes there is a difference in attitudes to Muslims between Britain and Ireland. Around 85 per cent of the Muslim population here have third level education, or are here to study. A large part of the community is a transient student population, studying medicine, engineering or business. "We don't have the same problems as they have in places like Leeds and Bradford, where you have a lot of unemployed brown people hanging around. That causes conflict."
The majority of the undergraduates come from Malaysia and the Persian Gulf countries. The post graduates come from Pakistan and the Arab and African countries.
Canon Des Sinnamon, a Church of Ireland rector, has found Muslims on his doorstep in both of his parishes. When he was in the South Circular Road area he tried to "create dialogue" with his Muslim parishioners. He met the Imam, the mosque elder. Now as rector of Taney, near Clonskeagh, Canon Sinnamon believes the dialogue is working well. "People often think of Islam as a monolith," he says. But he points out that there are a vast number of cultures represented.
For some outsiders the ostentatious display of faith in bricks and mortar in Clonskeagh reinforces this monolithic image.
Privately the neighbours in Clonskeagh worry about house prices and their area being swallowed up by a Muslim enclave. The "Not In My Back Yard" attitude its expressed as guarded suspicion rather than active opposition. The Muslims are more than aware that their image in some quarters lies somewhere between the fanatical suicide bomber and the oil rich Arab.
Tommy Doyle, a retired man living in the area, is happy to see the new building. "There's room for us all." He says he would be interested in visiting the mosque, "maybe going along to a prayer meeting," but as a Catholic for 80 years he is not looking for any alternative beliefs.
"They're quite nice people. They're all professional. When they settle in here nobody bothers about them."
The planning permission for Clonskeagh contains the usual conditions on boundaries and access. There is, however, one condition specific to its use as a mosque.
The call to prayer is traditionally announced by loudspeaker to the surrounding residents five times a day from the minaret. During the summer months, dawn prayer can start as early as 3 a.m. The early morning call includes the phrase "Prayer is better than sleep".
However Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown planners have stipulated that there be "no calling to prayer or other public address system either in the minaret or elsewhere in the site".
The architects remain tight lipped about the details of the development and the site is strictly off limits for the media until the opening ceremony. One source said this was designed to generate more interest in the mosque. "They feel it'll be a one hit wonder. Once it has opened then no one will be interested."
