Educate Together, the multidenominational schools' umbrella body, has warned it will have to close its national office and lay off its one part-time worker before Christmas unless more Government funding becomes available.
Its chairwoman, Dr Jill Steer, said yesterday this would mean the multi-denominational sector and its 16 schools would be run on a purely voluntary basis in terms of discussions with the Government and the other education partners, running the teacher deployment panel, developing new schools and other key national education tasks.
"In the light of the peace process, it would not reflect well on the Government if the only organisation in education in the Republic which is working to bring people of different denominations together were forced to close down due to lack of Government support," she said.
This year the Department of Education is giving Educate Together £6,000 to run its office, which represents half the salary of its part-time secretary/co-ordinator, Ms Deirdre O'Donoghue. This is up from £2,000 last year. However, the next annual payment from the Department is not due until August 1998.
For the past three years office expenses and Ms O'Donoghue's salary have been largely paid for on a declining basis by an anonymous donor, who provided 100 per cent of their funding in 1995, 60 per cent last year and 40 per cent this year. This funding runs out at the end of December.
Dr Steer said the organisation needed at least £20,000 a year to provide the basic service of an office and a part-time worker. To employ a development officer to work with groups of parents trying to set up new multi-denominational schools, it would need £50,000.
Currently Ms O'Donoghue has to double as development officer, travelling, usually without expenses, to work with parents' groups aiming to set up schools in Tralee, Athlone, and Roundwood, Co Wicklow. A group is also planning a school in north inner-city Dublin.
A Department of Education spokesman said yesterday that the Minister, Mr Martin, had met an Educate Together delegation last month. The delegation had put a funding proposal to him. He had listened carefully and was considering it in the context of the Department's Budget estimate.