The Catholic Church in Dublin has said they will make a "gesture" to admit students to schools in Dublin based on location and regardless of their religion.

According to the Irish Examiner, Fr Tom Deenihan, general secretary of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association, made the announcement at its AGM in front of 200 delegates.

He went on to state that even with the number of Catholic schools admitting pupils, they were still oversubscribed. He continued: “That, in itself, is indicative of something. There is, though, an opportunity here for such schools to cater for the children in their area before catering for those outside the catchment area, regardless of religious affiliation. That is a conversation that will have to take place in the near future and it may be an area where some gesture could be be made.”

In terms of religious education and Rule 68, which removed provision of teaching the subject, he said: “When these five criteria are taken into consideration, I would challenge anyone to tell me that Catholic primary schools are not as inclusive as any other type of school.”

Fr Deenihan also stated that it was “simply false” to state that a pupil must be baptised to be admitted to a Catholic-run school.

He said: “When these... criteria are taken into consideration, I would challenge anyone to tell me that Catholic primary schools are not as inclusive as any other type of school.”

He finished by saying that there were a number of volunteers serving on boards: “We are becoming tired of being the object of criticism for our politicians who target such schools so regularly that one could be forgiven for thinking that there was no other issue in Irish society, be it economical, health, justice or welfare. Indeed, despite that narrative over the past few years, it was remarkable how little it featured in political manifestos, leader debates and, anecdotally, on the doorsteps with canvasser’s during the general election campaign.”