Cornamaddy Community National School, pictured here in 2020, in recent years changed patronage and is now operated as a multi-denominational school under the auspices of Longford and Westmeath Education and Training Board.

Two thirds of local parents want to keep child’s school patronage

Ronan Fagan

Published: Fri 3 Jul 2026, 3:24 PM

Almost 64% of parents and guardians from Westmeath and 66% in Roscommon have a preference for retaining the patronage of the school which their children are attending, the results of a recently published national education survey have revealed.

The Government's Primary School Survey provide the most comprehensive picture to date of the views and preferences of parents and guardians on the future direction of primary education in their local communities.

Parents and guardians from 38 schools in Athlone and the wider South Westmeath and South Roscommon regions responded to the survey exploring preferences regarding school patronage and multi-denominational ethos, co-educational or single-sex provision and education through the Irish language.

The survey gathered the views of both parents of children currently attending primary school and parents of children yet to enter the school system.

Patronage can be denominational (religious) or multi-denominational (non-religious). Most primary schools in Ireland are under Catholic patronage, while multi-denominational schools, such as Educate Together schools, provide education about all faiths and belief systems.

For parents and guardians of children yet to attend primary school, almost 63% in Westmeath were in favour of keeping the status quo in terms of their preferred school's patronage, while 65.5% of Roscommon respondents expressed their desire to retain the existing patronage.

Nationally, for responding households linked to a denominational school, just over 40% selected multi-denominational as their preferred ethos for their school. For households linked to an existing multi-denominational school, almost 85% of households selected multi-denominational patronage as their preference.

Almost 98% of Westmeath respondents to the survey expressed their desire to have their children attend a co-educational environment, with 97% of parents and guardians in Roscommon also in favour of such an education setting for their children.Nationally, amongst responding households with children attending single-sex primary schools, 73.5% expressed a preference for a co-educational configuration.The matter of language preference was also as part of the Primary School survey. Within each of Westmeath and Roscommon, just 18% of respondents stated they had a preference for the school their children were attending to educate through the Irish language.Of those Westmeath households surveyed whose children had yet to attend the primary school of their choice, 22% said they had a preference for the school to teach through the Irish language. The same question recorded a 22.9% response from parents and guardians in Roscommon.

Nationally, of responses from households with children in primary school, 91.5% were from households with children attending schools which teach through English. Of these, just over 13% expressed a preference for their school to teach through Irish.

Welcoming the publication of the survey, Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton, said that the Government now had "a detailed picture of what parents want their primary schools to look like in the years ahead".

"These results are a starting point for conversations about the future, led by the people who know their schools best, parents, students, staff and local communities," the Minister said.

The Minister confirmed that the Department of Education and Youth will continue to support schools as they engage with parents, staff, patrons and the wider community on the survey findings and consider potential next steps.

"Where survey findings indicate demand for change, boards of management may apply to be included in the first group of schools that wish to act on the outcomes of the survey process," the Minister added.

Schools wishing to be included in the first phase of implementation have been requested to notify the department and their patron by October 31. The first changes arising from this process are expected to be seen in schools from September 2027.