Apparently you have to be baptised to go to school in Ireland:
Instead of starting school last month, Reuben Murphy found himself back in his Dublin nursery for another year as his mother, Nikki, re-embarked on her quest to find a place at a local state primary for her four-year-old son.
She has already applied to 15 schools. But, following rejections from nine last year, Murphy is far from confident that a place will be found for Reuben. In a country where more than 90% of state schools are run by the Catholic church, unbaptised children like him are at the bottom of their admissions lists.
This is what happens when you outsource your education system to a religious organisation: it takes public money to cater to its own while excluding those who don't follow their dogma. The idea that a supposedly modern state would use such a discriminatory system simply beggars belief. And the sooner Ireland does away with it and frees itself from the bigoted hand of the church, the better.
