Sir, – I refer to "Department of Education guide says new schools will not have traditional toilet layout" (News, April 22nd), on the Department of Education's decision to allow new schools to choose toilet facilities to be gender neutral.
The principal of an Educate Together secondary school in Limerick is quoted as saying that gender-neutral toilets are “reflective of society nowadays”.
I would like to know when we magically evolved to have reached a point where young girls no longer require privacy, dignity and safety while in states of undress or dealing with periods.
A glance at your newspaper would suggest quite the opposite.
A report in The Irish Times of March 26th featured a group of Dublin schoolgirls who set up a group to fight the constant catcalling and harassment they are enduring on the street.
On April 17th, you published a lengthy article about the targeting of young Irish women whose images have been stolen and used on pornographic sites.
In the UK, a major scandal has broken about the extent of sexual harassment and abuse girls have been suffering from boys in their schools. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has launched a dedicated helpline and the UK government has ordered that its schools watchdog carry out a review on how schools can deal with such instances of sexual harassment and violence.
There is no reason to think that Ireland is not facing the same issues, and there is increasing concern about the effects of pornography on teenage boys.
If students wish to use gender-neutral toilets, surely they are a tiny minority who can be catered for without removing the rights of every girl in the school to female-only facilities.
The principal states that the department’s decision on toilets is an “inclusive step”. Inclusive of whom? It does not include teenage girls who wish to have female-only toilets and who do not wish to share toilets with boys. Is there anyone who will speak for these girls and their rights? – Yours, etc,
SINEAD FULCHER,
Drogheda,
Co Louth.
Sir, – It was great to see your coverage on the proposed introduction of gender-neutral toilets in schools. I would suggest that a good idea would be to ask the opinion of the boys and girls who it will affect.
Children, however, especially teenagers, rarely want to be seen to be “rocking the boat” or in perceived disagreement with their peers, so it would be obvious to anyone working with children that this survey should be conducted anonymously.
I’m confident that would give us our answer, and in the eventuality of a “No, thank you”, we could always trial it in adult spaces, like the Dáil perhaps, and see how that works out. – JACKY STEWART,
Dublin 12,
Sir, – Does your education editor know what a mooncup is? Had he ever had to wash one in public, he might have been less dismissive of the concerns voiced by the sole woman quoted in his article "What will new gender-neutral toilets in schools look like?" (News, April 22nd).
Laoise Uí Aodha de Brún cited evidence in the UK of girls missing school during their periods because of harassment from boys in mixed-sex bathrooms; some could miss a quarter of their teaching as a result. Girls are more at risk of urinary tract infections as it is, without the additional problem of dehydration.
Where will girls be able to get pads and tampons? Will they have to ask the teachers, because they are too embarrassed to use a dispenser in a mixed-sex space? Will they be too embarrassed to ask the teacher too? And what about children who identify as trans or non-binary, when they menstruate?
It is not “inclusive” to ignore the practical problems faced by 50 per cent of the population. – Yours, etc,
Dr ANNETTE NEARY,
Barna,
Co Galway.
Sir, – Carl O’Brien states that “Few groups have publicly voiced opposition to it with the exception of The Countess Didn’t Fight For This (TCDFFT), which describes itself as a ‘grassroots human rights and advocacy group’ of about 60-plus individuals’”.
This implies that only this group of 60 individuals oppose the removal of the single-sex toilets provision in Irish schools.
This is not the case.
Women’s advocacy group Radicailín and the Irish Women’s Lobby strongly and publicly oppose this retrograde step and Women’s Space Ireland has also written publicly about its opposition to this move.
In addition, there are many thousands of women and men who have very serious concerns about this latest show of disregard for Irish females by the State.
Some of them are openly discussing their concerns but many more will only speak with trusted friends on matters like these because they are afraid of receiving treatment similar to that meted out to the TCDFFT spokeswoman Laoise Ní Aodha de Brún on RTÉ’s Joe Duffy Show by another caller to the show. Ms de Brún was insulted after calmly and respectfully articulating the obvious issues.
This step by the Department of Education intrudes upon the safety, dignity, privacy and comfort of girls in school. I am a mother of five – boys and girls. None of my children, some of them adults, believe that this is a good move by the Department of Education. They are all appalled at the lack of understanding of the needs and wishes of young girls and women.
The department has said that the decision to move to mixed-sex toilets in schools was taken after consultation.
With whom did the department consult? What stakeholders were asked for their opinion? Were any groups or organisations consulted? If so, which groups?
This warrants further investigation. – Yours, etc,
MADELEINE O’DOWD,
Wexford.