Question:

‘Education problems supply one of the litigation battlefields of the modern Republic. All the protagonists – the State, the churches, the teachers and their unions, the local community, the parents, the children too – have individual interests which they wish to see upheld. The difficulty, which so frequently precipitates the lawsuit, is that in seeking to uphold the interests of one set of protagonists, it is commonly impossible to do otherwise than to interfere with, and sometimes even substantially downgrade, the interests of one, if not more of the other sets’ (Osborough 2000: 416).

Critically discuss(with reference to relevant case-law and academic commentary)the above statement.

Purpose of Assignment/Learning Outcomes:

• Increase knowledge base – develop a deeper understanding of the key areas of education law by exploring primary sources of law (e.g. Constitution, legislation, etc.) in addition to domestic and international scholarly publications.
• Develop skill-set – critically analyse the difficulty in balancing individual interests in education with the common good.
• Develop your research skills by investigating (online and in the library) and summarising litigation pertaining to education in Ireland.
• Develop your written skills by clearly and succinctly expressing a reasoned and well-supported argument.