Reflecting on 100 years of educational policy in Ireland: was equality ever a priority?

The year 2022, one hundred years since the foundation of the State, provides an opportunity to reflect on the development of policy in relation to educational equality over the course of the last century, including promises made and opportunities lost. This article looks back at one hundred years of education policy through an equality lens, asking whether or not the state has delivered on promises made and whether or not commitments to fostering equality espoused at key junctures have been realised. It concludes that despite the incremental and sophisticated evolution of policy, achieving equality has not been to the forefront of policymaking in Irish education since the State was founded, with the exception of a brief period during the 1960s.