A chara, – I must disagree with "The Irish Times view on schools in Northern Ireland: segregated classrooms" (February 18th) that segregated schooling is not the cause of prejudice in Northern Ireland. If a pupil stays within their religious background for the duration of their schooling, they cannot have sustained interaction with those of a different religion and they cannot have their prejudices challenged if they go to school with their "own kind".
Segregated schooling is not simply religious either; rather, the process of academic selection places deprived pupils in different schools and puts them at a disadvantage to their more affluent peers. This makes it possible to deduce an individual’s social and religious background simply by asking them where they went to school. Surely this fact should reflect how ingrained prejudice is to Northern Irish schooling.
Segregation should therefore be treated not just as religious, but also as social. Regardless of Northern Ireland’s constitutional future, issues of prejudice, under-achievement and social immobility will persist unless the unpalatable decisions are taken to address the multifaceted segregation inherent in Northern Ireland’s siloed education system. – Yours, etc,
PETER DRAYNE,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – Kudos to President Higgins. Few people have managed to unite both sides of the religion divide in Northern Ireland as he has done in their objection to his ill-judged criticism of the education system of a neighbouring state ("Higgins's remarks about North's 'segregated' schools spark anger", News, February 18th).
It’s not the role of our head of state to criticise our neighbours, especially in an area where after 100 years we ourselves hardly have a fully integrated education system. – Yours, etc,
CHARLES McLAUGHLIN,
Dublin 8.