Sir, – Fintan O’Toole rightly identifies one of childhood’s earliest causes of division in a community: separate schooling for religious groups. (Opinion, October 30th). Many years ago, my Queen’s University friend, Eamonn McCann, was asked by David Frost on a TV show to explain the background to the bitterly divided Northern Ireland society. Paraphrasing Eamonn, he answered, “I didn’t know a Protestant until I went to university”.
I think that Protestant was me, and I thank him for his friendship. We reaped the whirlwind. – Yours, etc,