Sir, – As the nephew of two, sadly deceased, Sisters of the Presentation Order, I read with interest your report (Patsy McGarry, World News, November 1st), about the history of Venerable Nano Nagle founder of the Presentation Sisters. I hope it will provide an opportunity not merely to review her life but also to end the current obsession in Irish media and public life of sneering at the Catholic religious orders and their contribution to Ireland.
Presentation nuns, along with other religious orders including the much-maligned Christian Brothers were the first to provide Irish people with the opportunity for an education when no government or other public body was able or willing to do so. Thousands dedicated their life to this and provided a first-rate education to generations of pupils who were thereby given the opportunity to better themselves and their country. Today Catholic religious orders continue to provide education often the only education available in some of the poorest and most unstable parts of the world.
Nano Nagle, along with others in the church, as far back as the mid-18th century, provided education for girls – something that is still not available to millions of girls in the 21st century and that contribution to the empowerment of women deserves to be acknowledged.– Yours, etc,
NEIL ADDISON,
Fenwick Street,
Liverpool, England.