Sir, – In view of the decision by the Congregation of Christian Brothers to sell off school pitches at Clonkeen College in south Dublin, is it not time to ask if the order should have control over any school property? Transferring land to the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, which was set up by the Brothers, is no solution. The trust and the Brothers are simply two sides of the same coin. In the Dublin case, look at what little effort was made by the trust to defend the facilities of one of its schools. It is completely silent on the morality of the Brothers’ actions.
The State, through the Minister for Education, must now use any means to remove all school lands from the control of the order.
The Christian Brothers are no longer fit guardians of land attached to schools and intended for the use and benefit of students in those schools. Edmund Rice must be spinning in his grave. – Yours, etc,
JIM BYRNE,
Sallynoggin,
Co Dublin.