Majority happy with the patronage of schools

While most forms of public displays of bigotry are thankfully a thing of the past, it appears from Hughie Hartigan’s contribution (Irish Examiner, Letters, August 19) that anti-Catholic bigotry is very much alive and well.

While the Catholic church — like all organisations, religious and secular — contains miscreants in its ranks, it may have escaped Mr Hartigan’s attention that said Church was responsible for establishing and running most of the essential social infrastructure of the country. At a time when the state was unable or unwilling to do so.

In the course of his attack Mr Hartigan asserts that there is something undemocratic about the Church’s patronage of schools.

A few years ago the Department of Education held polls on patronage in selected areas.

The results showed that a majority of parents did not want a change of patronage.

So it seems that it is people like Mr Hartigan and Ruairi Quinn who are being undemocratic.

Eric Conway

Balreask Village

Navan

Co Meath