Chai Brady
Mattie Mcgrath Photo: Irish Mirror The decision by Mary Immaculate College (MIC) in Limerick to reject a course in Christian ethics has been dubbed “deeply regrettable” by outgoing Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath.
A programme was developed and submitted to the college authorities after academics in MIC were approached by hospital chaplains who asked for professional training to deal with difficult ethical decisions.
The Certificate for Christian Ethics aimed to help those struggling morally in Ireland’s changing healthcare landscape. Mr McGrath called for the decision “to be urgently reconsidered”.
“We must remember that what we are talking about here is a coursed specifically designed to facilitate and inform a pastorally sensitive response to the increasingly complex and conflicting visions within the Irish health care system,” he told The Irish Catholic.
“I would also have additional concerns that the move by the authorities could be interpreted as a kind of institutional or cultural pushback against anything that would enable a sustained critique of the prevailing ethical model within contemporary Irish healthcare.
“We need to be absolutely clear that this is not what is happening.”
He added that MIC should be at the forefront of “advancing the richness of the catholic ethical vision” and that “rejecting a course that could have achieved this is confusing to say the least”.
Healthcare
Defending the decision MIC sent a statement to this paper saying the programme would have diverted funds from other core programmes and they weren’t planning to expand its programme provision regarding professional healthcare.
The proposed course was not unusual, according to Prof. Eamonn Conway of MIC who said that publicly-funded higher education institutions often provide specially designed courses for professionals.
He gave the example of Waterford Institute of Technology which provides a certificate in custodial care for prison officers.
Prof. Conway said that the programme was developed to meet “a felt need among hospital chaplains and healthcare professionals for Christian ethics programme”.
MIC said: “As a publicly-funded institution, Mary Immaculate College is specifically mandated to provide programmes in the academic fields of education and the liberal arts.
“At present, and for the foreseeable future, the college is not contemplating strategic expansion of its programme provision to the domain of professional healthcare, particularly where such programmes would necessitate a diversion of resources from MIC’s core programmes.”