Recent trends in curriculum development in Irish post-primary schools are traced according to two models: the classic-centrist and the romantic-decentralist. The classic model, initiated by agencies external to the school, views curriculum development as a science and focuses on accountability and competency-based teaching and testing. The romantic model, also referred to as school-based curriculum development, stresses the sharing of power and authority by a wide range of individuals, with greater interaction among teachers, parents, pupils, curriculum researchers, and inspectors. A survey of 505 post-primary school principals conducted in 1982 in the Republic of Ireland measured the impact of various classic curriculum projects and the use of the romantic model. Among the courses for which the Government Department of Education stressed a need, the applied Leaving Certificate courses (technical drawing, accounting, mechanics) have been most widely implemented. Pre-employment courses for returning students unable to gain employment are not provided in a majority of comprehensive and vocational schools. More than a dozen other projects have made only the slightest impact on schools. The data also suggest that comprehensive and community schools employ a significant amount of school-based curriculum development, while less than half of the secondary and one-third of vocational school have undertaken such work. (KC)