Our guest on Education Nation this week is Fintan Murphy, CEO of the Catholic Schools Trustee Service (CSTS)—the sectoral body supporting the trustees of the approximately 450 Catholic schools across Northern Ireland.

In this episode Fintan offers valuable insights into the context of Catholic education within the Northern Ireland education system—one that mirrors the experience in the Republic in many respects but which differs significantly not only in language but also in terms of structure, funding and governance.

The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 has undoubtedly improved fairness and transparency. The Act for the first time required that every school publish a clear, nondiscriminatory admissions policy and that they follow an agreed common national timeline. There is no doubt that parents now have greater confidence in how places are allocated.

But one unintended consequence means that Catholic schools can no longer give priority to children of Catholic families. In the opinion of Alan Hynes this is the decisive factor that has prevented communities from supporting divestment. Parents are reluctant to relinquish a denominational school if they cannot be assured that their children will have priority access to the remaining Catholic option.

This week’s guest on the Education Nation podcast is Seamus Mulconry, the CEO of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA), a key stakeholder in Irish education and the national body supporting the Boards of Management and leaders of almost 3,000 Catholic primary schools across the country.

Originally from Kilkee, Co. Clare, Seamus fondly recalls his early school days in “the school around the corner,” where inspirational educators like principal Martin Boland and teacher Tom Lillis sparked his lifelong passion for Celtic mythology and ancient history.

He summarises the core role of CPSMA concisely, “We represent schools and help schools stay out of trouble — or help them reverse out of it as quickly as possible.”

With First Communion and Confirmation season in full swing, the Education Nation podcast is turning its attention to the primary sector for a while. Next week’s guest is Seamus Mulconry, CEO of the Catholic Primary School Managers Association. This week, in the first of our ‘focus on primary education’ series, the spotlight falls on someone from outside the majority Catholic nationalschool tradition: Simon Lewis, principal of Carlow Educate Together National School.

Simon brings something rare to the national conversation on education: the lived experience of growing up in Ireland as part of a minority community, combined with the professional insight gained as both teacher and principal. He demonstrates tremendous energy, confidence, a willingness to listen, to dialogue, to challenge, and the courage to say some of the quiet things out loud.

On this week’s Education Nation podcast, we turned our attention to one of the pinch points of our education system, perhaps the most pressurised and least understood roles in Irish education: school leadership. More specifically, the conversation focused on the lived reality of principals and deputy principals in post-primary schools.

Our guest, Rachel O’Connor, a long-standing advocate for school leaders, painted a picture of a profession that is deeply committed, increasingly complex, and now facing challenges that would have been unimaginable even a decade ago.

In her current role as Deputy Director of the National Association of Principals and Deputies, Rachel certainly has her finger on the pulse.

In words that resonate strongly with those of other contributors to the Podcast, O’Brien sees the key challenges facing Catholic education as stemming not from a lack of goodwill or talent, but from a lack of formation. Ultimately this leads to a gap in confidence around leadership and the articulation of the Christian message that underpins the entire tradition of Catholic education.

This week’s guest on EDUCATION NATION Jonathan Tiernan, CEO of the Jesuit Education Trust provides a clear-eyed assessment of what lies ahead for Catholic schools should we fail to capitalise on the opportunities before us or if we do not respond adequately to the challenges of the next ten years.

For our first episode, Nicholas Cuddihy interviews Dr Eilis Humphrey about her love of learning and the education system in Ireland.

In this week's episode, prominent anti-trafficking campaigner Sr Liz Murphy addresses a problem that has often gone under the radar but continues to grip parts of the country: the devastation of human trafficking. Sr Liz outlines how Ireland's inability to meaningfully tackle the offence has seen it flagged on a global stage for its inadequate response, an offence that Sr Liz characterises as a "crime against humanity".

Our guest this week is Dr Donal O’Shea of UCD School of Medicine who speaks to regular hosts Michael Kelly and Wendy Grace about how to prevent obesity and be healthy at any weight, provided one makes healthy choices and exercises. As the HSE's Clinical Lead on Obesity in Ireland, he emphasises the importance of “children being active as a default”. They also discuss how consumers are hoodwinked by packaging, claims of 'healthy ingredients' and the rising levels of sugars in even the most basic food items.