If the Catholic Church was the patron of Ireland’s National Radio Station
Radio presenters have a lot in common with primary school teachers. Especially on talk radio, they facilitate discussions on topics they want their class (the listeners) to learn about. They will generally give a good introduction and conclusion to the various topics and they will generally invite members of the class to discuss those topics. Also, people think they only work a few hours a day, although I’ve never heard anyone give out that their favourite presenter should be on air for longer, but that’s another day’s argument.
Another thing I’ve never heard about radio shows is that any of them should be controlled by the Catholic Church. However, in Ireland, where around 90% of primary schools are controlled by the organisation, it is generally defended. The majority of people will claim to “go along to get along.” Many will tell those that have an issue, that Ireland is a Catholic country and that if they wish to have non-Catholic schools, they should set up their own. I often wonder if radio stations were set up in the same way as Irish primary schools, what that would look like.
Before you ridicule this as silly because teaching is completely different to radio presenting, bear with me, because you might find it really isn’t. The only reason the Catholic Church controls 90% of Irish primary schools is not by design but by historic accident. It wasn’t that long ago that the Irish media was effectively controlled by the same organisation, and it was “well known among journalists that certain newspapers have a policy of keeping off issues in which the Church may be involved.” Some argue this continued into the 1990s until the resignation of the former Bishop Eamon Casey, and the subsequent sexual abuse cases throughout the country. We still have the Catholic call to prayer on the State national airwaves every day of the week, and a Catholic Mass is still aired on RTE Radio Extra every Sunday at 11am.
With all that being said, you might suspend your scepticism and bring yourself not too far into the past and think about what would happen if your favourite radio shows were patronised by the Catholic Church. I’m going to use RTE’s Drivetime as an example, which is presented by Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra.
Thankfully the Catholic Church were unable to do anything about the Marriage Bar being lifted in 1973 or Drivetime would be presented by Cormac on his own. But let’s fast forward to 2024 and let’s imagine the radio station is similar to how an Irish primary school is run.
First things first — Drivetime would have to begin and end with a Catholic prayer. Either Sarah and Cormac could lead in this prayer but it would have to be a Catholic one. Throughout their show, maybe as a transition between topics, there might be another prayer said. This would certainly match an average day in a Catholic school.
However, on top of that, 10% of the show would have to be dedicated to faith formation. You’ve guessed it, it would be Catholic faith formation. This would mean that the presenters would have to specifically instruct listeners of some aspect of Catholic faith, so roughly 15 minutes of the show would be dedicated to this. In most cases, this would happen in the middle of the show.
It wouldn’t end there, of course. Naturally, while Sarah and Cormac would be free to cover any topics they wished on their show, they would be reminded that the ethos would have to permeate throughout the programme so certain topics would not be allowed to be discussed, if they might be seen to undermine the ethos. This would mean that certain subjects would simply not be discussed on the show. Anything from LGBT+ issues to women’s bodily autonomy, even to subjects like divorce, would be out of bounds.
While they both do very well at this already, (I have googled this,) if they are not practicing Catholics, they cannot let their listeners know. After all, they must ensure, not only to uphold the Catholic ethos of the station, but they would have had to have agreed to pass on the faith to their listeners.
As crazy as this may seem, this is the life of every teacher in every Catholic primary school in Ireland. The only difference is that on a radio station, it would be very easy to catch a radio presenter that wasn’t fulfilling their contract. In an actual primary school, many teachers close the door of the classroom, and hope that they do enough to keep the bishop’s representative from the door. The vast majority of teachers do this successfully because the vast majority of teachers working in Irish primary schools are able to fulfil the demands of the Catholic Church in their classrooms.
The problem is that there are a growing number of Irish primary teachers who are not happy to go along with things. Many have become very uncomfortable that, much like RTE’s audience, most Irish classrooms are made up of children from highly diverse backgrounds. Many simply aren’t Catholic and have no wish to pretend to be. About half of those under the age of 50 do not believe in a personal god. Faith is not simply a subject one teachers. It permeates throughout the school day.
The common response to these teachers is that they should quit complaining and go and teach in a multidenominational school. These represent about 4% of all schools. Going back to our analogy, that’s pretty much like telling Sarah and Cormac to battle it out for a slot on RTE Pulse.
When people think about primary schools, they don’t realise the amount of religion that happens in them, both overtly and subtly. By mapping the profession into one which is more public like a radio presenter, it might amplify the daily routine of the average primary teacher in Ireland and what is expected of them each day. If it would be ridiculous for a radio presenter to have to uphold these expectations, why should it be any different from a primary school teacher?
