Scottish Catholic Observer

The director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service has rejected a charity’s call to tackle sectarianism by building more shared campuses and twinning schools.

“The problem of sectarianism is rooted in communities, not in schools,” Michael McGrath said of Nil by Mouth’s plans. “Catholic schools already promote tolerance, respect and diversity very effectively. Nil by Mouth’s proposals strike me as more examples of failed projects and tokenistic gestures.”

He also told the SCO that Nil by Mouth, a key part of the Scottish Government anti-sectarianism strategy, had not consulted the Catholic Education Service prior to its publication of a 13-point plan to tackle sectarianism in Scotland at a time when the Church has spoken out about the depth of anti-Catholic bigotry in the country.

Anti-sectarian proposals

As part of its new proposals, Nil by Mouth has called for the Scottish Government to make a commitment ‘that the Scottish Futures Trust will engage fully with all 32 local authorities regarding the possibility of building more shared campuses across Scotland.’ The document also calls for an emphasis to be placed on school twinning projects.

Mr McGrath said that, by calling for more shared campuses, the charity was displaying the limits of the body’s understanding of sectarianism, something also illustrated by its call for more twinning of schools.

“The call for more shared campuses is an example of that,” he said. “And every school already has good contacts and arrangements with other schools in their area. Artificial twinning of schools is not helpful or constructive.

“It’s a sop to officials so they think something is going on. We need to focus more on the good work arising naturally from within schools.”

Mr McGrath said that the charity’s overall plan was the ‘duplication of myriad projects that are not successful’ and ‘of course they’ve not discussed any of this with us.’

He added that the current approach to fighting sectarianism, from charities such as Nil by Mouth, was not working.

“We need to have much more sophisticated understanding of the issues at work here,” he said. “We don’t need a project called ‘the anti-sectarianism project’ to counter sectarian attitudes. There is a danger that this kind of narrow view entirely misses the heart of the matter.”

Loaded debate

Peter Kearney, director of the Catholic Media Office, said Nil by Mouth’s plans showed how the debate of the sectarian issues in Scotland was loaded against Catholics.

“The proposal that shared campuses are the solution clearly suggests that stand alone campuses are a problem,” he said. “This is demonstrably not true and sadly such assertions are symptomatic of the widespread intolerance that Catholics regularly face. This is a repeat of the age-old blame the victim strategy.”

Other policies advocated by the charity’s plan include having all criminals convicted of sectarian offences being forced to complete a compulsory rehabilitation programme, dedicated awareness training of sectarian issues for every school pupil and civil servant in Scotland by 2015 and the funds for football supporters groups to develop their own anti-sectarianism projects. The charity’s proposals also outline sectarianism awareness training for police officers and detailed annual reports on crimes of a sectarian nature.

Dave Scott, Nil by Mouth’s campaign director, said the charity hoped to start a ‘genuine nationwide debate’ on the issue.

“Last year saw record numbers of convictions for sectarian offences but we cannot simply arrest, or even spend, our way out of this problem,” he said.  “We must look at the root causes and prevent another generation fighting the battles of the past.”

Government policy

Funding for groups such as Nil By Mouth is a key part of the Scottish Government’s anti-sectarianism strategy.

The current administration has committed £9 million in funding to Nil by Mouth and other anti-sectarianism charities over the next three years.

Next week, MSPs will vote on whether the Scottish Government’s Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill will become law. The Scottish Government has proposed two new offences through the bill.

The first offence targets sectarian and threatening behaviour at and around football matches that is deemed likely to cause public disorder. The second offence relates to threats or serious harm that are intended to stir up religious hatred on the internet or other communications. Those convicted under the legislation could spend as long as five years in prison and be banned from football grounds.

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