Young people 'talking to Joe Duffy' in the search for answers
Friday April 28 2006
The RTE Liveline presenter Joe Duffy has been put on a pedestal because no-one seems responsible for anything any more, so people phone him instead, according to Anne Looney, chief executive of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
She said: "It is this lack of responsibility that keeps Joe Duffy on the air, and pages and pages of news media in circulation."
But last night the country's favourite agony uncle insisted that it was the power of radio and the nationwide spread of listeners which empowered people. "I have nothing to do with it, it is the people themselves," Joe Duffy said .
Issues
He added many listeners felt radio gave them a voice to speak about their problems or issues.
"Today is the first anniversary of the portacabins issue when portacabins equipped to hospital standard were provided to help with overcrowding in the Mater A&E. That issue is still with us and lots of other things that people want to talk about. Just by talking doesn't mean that their problem will be solved, but it does help some people," the presenter added.
Speaking to the Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools in Killarney, Ms Looney said Catholic schools will fail unless they address the issue of responsibility.
In the rush for accountability, especially in health and education, we may have overlooked responsibility, the prominent educationist claimed.
"Great strides have been made towards more accountability, accountability systems abound, but there is a creeping sense that responsibility is becoming rarer and rarer."
Ms Looney reminded school managers the mission of Catholic education is to prepare young people to be willing to stand up, to be responsible and to act.
Schools cannot be held accountable for the problems of society but they can be responsible for at least improving the situation, she added.
"Students need to learn that they are and can be responsible."
She said that if schools all sang from the same "it's not our responsibility" hymn sheet then the young people would join in.
Ms Looney also challenged the delegates to reflect on what Celtic Tiger Ireland has done to the soul of Catholic education.
"No-one can accuse us of failing to soul search; but what we have found seems less of a soul-filled position, less of a joyous confident expression of the very essence of Catholic education."
She suggested that ethos seems to have been sanitised with the soul and the passion taken out of it.
"It has been forgotten that teachers entered the profession to make a difference in the lives of young people and in this context the moral purpose of teaching and the search for soul in schools becomes very relevant.
"Catholic education needs to be publicly accountable, especially in a country where it receives monies from the public purse. And, it probably needs to be accountable on public terms. But can you account for 'soul'?" she added.
- John Walshe and Lorna Reid
