What Mary Moran and Jennifer Horgan Taught Us About Irish Primary Schools
We’ve all had those lunches with old friends that roll into dinner, but for teacher and columnist Jennifer Horgan, one specific conversation changed how she viewed her entire profession.
Her lifelong friend—brilliant, empathetic, but dyslexic—had recently discovered audiobooks. “I get straight into the story now, without having to do all that work,” she told Jennifer. “Reading made me feel anxious. It was just too hard.” As a teenager, she had actively avoided the "university crowd," terrified she'd come across as stupid.
Listening to this, a dark voice from Jennifer’s past surfaced: You did think she was less intelligent, didn’t you? It’s a stomach-flipping realisation, but it is the natural byproduct of an education system that rank-orders children from a young age. We were trained to value only one narrow definition of intelligence: the ability to read, retain, and regurgitate.
When Jennifer spoke to literacy pioneer Mary Moran back in January 2022 (which we discussed in our [original article here]), Mary didn’t mince words. Dyslexic children aren’t less intelligent; they are neurologically different. They make brilliant architects and engineers because they see the world three-dimensionally. But they need a structured literacy programme from the moment they step into primary school. As Mary warned: “Girls wear their dyslexia better, they plod along, but boys get angry. How many of our prisons are filled with men who can’t read?”
Mary noted that while young primary teachers are deeply eager to help, schools too often use "sprinklings of phonics and pieces of programmes." Dyslexic children need systematic stepping-stones all the way through primary school. If we caught them early and consistently, they could fully access the curriculum, and we would need far fewer emergency resources in later years.
How Far Have Our Primary Schools Come?
Looking back at Mary's warning, how much has actually changed in Irish primary education?
- The Good News: There is a genuine cultural shift happening. The Primary Curriculum Framework places a much heavier emphasis on inclusive, adaptive teaching. Modern primary classrooms are far more vibrant, neuro-inclusive, and open to diverse learning styles than they were decades ago. ESCI centres regularly run training events on UDL and Structured literacy (SL).
- The Fragmented Reality: Mary Moran's core criticism still stands. SL is still not universally streamlined across all schools. It often depends on the luck of the draw—which school your child attends and how much independent training their teacher has undertaken.
- The Waiting List Crisis: The biggest roadblock isn't the teachers; it’s the system. Thousands of primary school children remain trapped on multi-year waiting lists for HSE speech, language, and psychological assessments. Without that official paperwork, schools are left fighting for resources with one hand tied behind their backs.
The Verdict
We have evolved enough to know what needs to be done. The social stigma around learning differences in primary schools is fading fast.
However, until the state provides schools with a unified, continuous structured literacy framework—and backs it up with immediate therapeutic support—we will continue to make perfectly intelligent children feel inadequate. We cannot keep ignoring children in favour of the status quo, telling ourselves we’re okay just because we happen to be the "right kind of clever."
Teachers and Parents: Have you seen a shift toward better literacy support in your primary school, or are we still relying on "sprinklings of phonics"? Let us know in the comments below!
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