‘Embracing Diversity in all its Forms’: The Voluntary Secondary Sector in Irish Education

Abstract

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) advances evidence-based policymaking that supports economic sustainability and social progress in Ireland. ESRI researchers apply the highest standards of academic excellence to challenges facing policymakers, focusing on ten areas of critical importance to 21st century Ireland.The Institute was founded in 1960 by a group of senior civil servants led by Dr T.K. Whitaker, who identified the need for independent and in-depth research analysis. Since then, the Institute has remained committed to independent research and its work is free of any expressed ideology or political position. The Institute publishes all research reaching the appropriate academic standard, irrespective of its findings or who funds the research.The ESRI is a company limited by guarantee, answerable to its members and governed by a Council, comprising up to 14 representatives drawn from a crosssection of ESRI members from academia, civil services, state agencies, businesses and civil society. Funding for the ESRI comes from research programmes supported by government departments and agencies, public bodies, competitive research programmes, membership fees and an annual grant-in-aid from the Department of Public Expenditure NDP Delivery and Reform.Further information is available at www.esri.ie. THE AUTHORSEamonn Carroll was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) at the time when he was working with the ESRI.