Church and State – a toxic intertwining?

A chara, – Declan Moriarty (June 26th) says I run the risk of taking both myself and Fintan O'Toole too seriously. Rather, I take truth-telling seriously. If I may quote the same Fintan O'Toole again ("Corrupt journalism is as pernicious as oppression", Opinion & Analysis, June 26th): "a fundamental duty to do their best to tell as much of the truth as they can muster – regardless of whose interest may be damaged".

Katie Harrington (June 26th) falls into the same error as Mr O’Toole – mistaking the part for the whole. She writes yes, the people of Ireland would have been better off without the input of religious bodies into education, health, welfare, social cohesion and pastoral care.

Indeed, there was the most deplorable wrong done. This is neither deniable nor excusable. But to say, as she does, that the education provided by religious institutes was “mired in abuse” paints everyone with the same brush. True, the abuse makes better headlines, and any abuse is abhorrent.

But there are many who, like myself, benefitted greatly from the work of the Irish Christian Brothers. If I recall correctly, the cost per term in Synge Street Secondary School in the 1950s was £6. It made an education possible for many who would otherwise have been deprived of it.

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Without that, and without the St Vincent de Paul Society and many other religious bodies, the people of Ireland would have been far worse off, when the government did not have the resources, nor sometimes perhaps the will, to provide.

Perhaps Mr O’Toole would write about this sometime. – Is mise,

PÁDRAIG McCARTHY,

Blackthorn Court,

Sandyford,

Dublin 16.