By Sarah Mac Donald - 31 January, 2014
Bishop Brendan Kelly, who is Chair of the Council for Education of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, has paid tribute to Seán Flynn, the education correspondent of the Irish Times, who died on Wednesday.
In his statement, Bishop Kelly said Seán Flynn (56) held his position as education correspondent at a time of “great change in the Irish education system” during the years 1995–2000.
In Seán’s analysis of the debates in preparation for the Education Act and for the Employment Equality Act, and regarding the change in structure of boards of management at primary schools, he was fair and just in his coverage and reportage, the Bishop said.
“During the education debates of the late 1990s, Seán always treated the different views and submissions made by the education partners with great respect.”
Seán was a reporter who always used his gifts to inform his readers, Bishop Kelly continued and said the Irish Times’ journalist “possessed an inquiring and sharp mind and he put these skills to good use in his determination to present the truth in his media coverage.”
Expressing his deepest sympathies to Seán Flynn’s wife Elaine, his daughter and sons, and to his colleagues in the Irish Times, Bishop Kelly said that as education editor, he had overseen the publication a weekly education supplement offering a quality analysis of the primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors.
“Seán gave particular attention to children with education needs and also concerning the access of children from the Travelling community to education,” the Bishops’ spokesman concluded.
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