Pat O’Doherty voiced the school’s intention to proceed with the plans despite the Minister for Education Catríona Ruane writing to the school this week urging the Board of Governors to reconsider its decision.

Speaking during a debate on academic selection in the Assembly on Monday, Ms Ruane repeated her support for Bishop Seamus Hegarty’s position on the matter and appealed to Lumen Christi to consider the school’s social justice responsibilities. “I would ask Lumen Christi to reconsider this position in the interests of social justice, equality, and fairness for every child,” she said.

Responding to the Minister’s appeals, Mr O’Doherty said Ms Ruane had no legal right to block academic selection. The Lumen Christi principal also rejected the Minister’s claim that academic selection was not consistent with the Catholic principle of social justice.

“We find nothing inconsistent with Catholic social teaching in offering academic selection,” he said.

Mr Doherty said parental choice was the main motivation behind the school’s decision. "For us the most important single thing is the primacy of parental choice. Catholic teaching clearly establishes that parents are the prime educators of their children. Parents certainly will most dearly protect the interests of their children and her imposition of a one size fits all model will deny that parental choice," he said.

Mr O’Doherty also said he believed the Minister has “singled out” the school for criticism. “We are surprised that the Minister has singled out a Catholic school. We assumed that if she was going to contact feeder primaries, she would have contacted all those feeders of schools that have already acknowledged they are going to introduce a common entrance test,” he added.