Sir, - Fintan O'Toole (April 3rd) says that the Christian Brothers educated seven of the 14 leaders executed in the 1916 Rebellion as of course they did most of the young men who fought in the War of Independence. The subsequent government Ministers and a world-renowned statesman, Eamon de Valera, had also been their pupils, what an extraordinary record! It would seem that we owe the freedom that we enjoy today to the Christian Brothers.
Fintan O'Toole, far from offering a few words of gratitude to them for his own education, attacks the Christian Brothers, most of whom were worthy men who dedicated their lives to providing an education for generation after generation of Irish boys. Their pupils became Irish speakers with a pride in their history and culture, firm in their religious beliefs. They became writers, poets, University professors, painters, stained-glass artists, public representatives, heads of State bodies and enterprises. They established businesses, factories and organisations. Some were brilliant civil servants.
If, in short, Ireland is at present an economic success, that success is built on the foundations laid down by earlier Christian Brothers' boys and the stable society which they established.
In my opinion the whole nation owes the Christian Brothers a debt of gratitude which should receive some kind of public acknowledgement. - Yours, etc. M. M. Ireland,
Priory Ave,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.