Sir, – While there were only 108 allegations of physical abuse made to the Department of Education between 1962 and 1982, it does not surprise me or anyone who attended national or post-primary schools during that period that so few complained (Lindsey Earner-Byrne, “Fear did a lot of heavy lifting in Irish classrooms”, Opinion & Analysis, October 30th).
One must remember that the overarching authority was the Catholic Church, or other religious, whose schools were more or less controlled by the local parish priest or bishop and their religious cabal, including the offending teachers.
Who would a child go to during that period to seek help from? There were no safeguards in place for children.
If a child told their parents that they were being brutalised at school, very few parents had the willingness or the courage to challenge the parish council or local priest or even the offending teacher.
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It was a case of hear no evil, see no evil.
As a student of the 1960s and 1970s, I know from first-hand experience what it was like, and what I witnessed, to be beaten within an inch by a depraved sadist.
We were supposed to go to school for an education but all we were taught was fear. Fear of being hit for the slightest mistake, fear of being brought to the front of the class and beaten mercilessly to the back of it. All I knew was fear, and I watched others at the hands of these sadists, primarily madmen, pursue their violence with vigour and pleasure, where speech impediments were made worse, or absence from schools became more frequent.
While post-primary was somewhat better than what occurred in national schools, there was still an element of brutality and sadism in some of the teachers who taught there.
I hope that the RTÉ documentary “Leathered: Violence in Irish Schools” will open a discussion that for so long has remained hidden from Irish view and, if necessary, a tribunal of inquiry that will expose those who brutalised those of us who felt their wrath.
Whether it was the use of the rod, the fist, the slap or the leather strap, our education was built on fear, a fear that resonated all though our working lives and which shaped us to this day, and even lives with us to this day.
How we survived this brutality is anyone’s guess, but those in authority, both locally and nationally, who were well aware of what was occurring should hang their heads in shame.
As for those teachers who were supposed to teach us, but were nothing more than devils incarnate; they have escaped lawful punishment but should be exposed and remembered for the brutal, sadistic teachers that they were. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTY GALLIGAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.