A Freedom of Information request by Atheist Ireland has revealed that very few students attend religious services at third level despite nearly €1.5 million being spent annually to employ chaplains.
In Cork Institute of Technology there are 12,000 students, but the average turnout for services is often as low as four. Similarly, in Sligo IT, which is attended by 6,000 students, around nine students regularly go to mass. In both cases, the chaplain is a Catholic priest who is paid between €49,000 and €50,000 a year.
The announcement comes after years of cutbacks to higher education, leading to some departments such as libraries being deemed severely underfunded. Atheist Ireland is campaigning for an end to publicly funded religious services, particularly at a time of higher education cutbacks.
Calls for an end to chaplaincies have been met with criticism as these departments also often offer advice to students. In UCD, the chaplaincy has often been involved in events with the PleaseTalk society. They also offer a variety of Christian services, including Catholic and Methodist. Various prayer groups are also often part of their programme. Many of these events are attended by members of the religious societies in UCD, such as Livingstones and the Newman Society.
Despite some of the criticisms levelled at religious services in third level, an Irish Times poll of 2,251 voters showed that 65 per cent still believed that chaplaincies should continue to be employed by colleges.
The figures come after the Education Equality movement was launched in December 2015. The organisation aims to end “all religious discrimination in State-funded schools.” The group hope to prevent any preference for a single religion in school curriculums, instead advocating for a change in the constitution to remove grounds for a student to be refused a place in a school based on religious grounds.
Advertisements