Sir, – Charles McLaughlin is correct when he says that President Higgins's comments on segregated education have "managed to unite both sides of the religious divide in Northern Ireland" (Letters, February 22nd). However I find that seriously disturbing because, after 100 years of segregation in schools, the divisions in NI society not only remain but have worsened. Once again, religious control by both sides trumps any serious attempt at integration.
Growing up in Belfast in the 1960s, I spent 14 years in Catholic schools and never once met a Protestant, or indeed any person of another religious persuasion, in a school setting.
Living on the Falls Road, I expect that my parents did not have a choice.
When the Troubles broke out, it quickly became a conflagration between two communities who had basically never met and had no idea of their respective allegiances and sensitivities.
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Surely, if we had been at school together, at least some of this could have been prevented.
After 100 years, parents in the Republic do actually have a choice for their children. Indeed, it would be hard to find a school in Ireland where multiple religions are not present and properly catered for, and we should be proud of this. – Yours, etc,
MARTIN McDONALD,
Terenure,
Dublin 12.