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The proposal that Protestant church representatives should
no longer have the automatic right to be appointed to education
committees and boards of governors of State schools must be
resisted.
It would further dilute the Protestant input into State
education, while leaving Roman Catholic schools independent
of any interference from Government.
But the very move to axe Protestant representation in State
schools vindicates the stand of the Orange Order back in the
late 1920s and early 30s when the then Northern Ireland Government
moved to establish a State system.
The Orange Order argued that although Northern Ireland had
a Protestant ethos in those days, and the Unionist Government
represented that fact, there was no guarantee this would remain
the case.
The Roman Catholic Church fiercely resisted the move, and
was allowed to opt out. In the early days of the new system
it received generous financial support from the Ulster Government.
Down the years that was increased, and in fact the Roman
Catholic Church received better treatment from the Unionist
Government than it did in mainland Britain from the Westminster
Government.
But many Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist people
were deeply unhappy over the loss of their schools, and felt
that the Protestants should make the same sacrifice as Roman
Catholics to retain their schools. And the small Protestant
minority in the Irish Free State, later Republic, made that
financial commitment to keep their schools.
The new system worked until the years after the Second World
War, when Ministers of Education in Northern Ireland began
to tamper with the arrangements.
Protestants rightly perceived that attempts were being made
to water down or remove the Protestant ethos of State schools.
This trend has increased in recent times, and now the time
has arrived when Protestants must stand up and be counted
if their schools are not to become secular and indifferent
towards the Reformed Faith.
The Orange Order will be in the vanguard of the resistance,
and hopefully both the DUP and Ulster Unionist Party will
resist further attempts to erode Protestantism in this province.
The warning by former Secretary of State, Dr. John Reid –
a Roman Catholic – that Northern Ireland would become
“a cold place for Protestants” certainly grows in
credence, and should be a wake-up call for all who treasure
the Protestant, British, and Unionist tradition in Northern
Ireland.
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