A chara, – In suggesting that "It really is time for the Catholic bishops and religious orders to accept that the days of compulsory religion are gone" (Letters, May 24th), Anthony O'Leary is showing a generosity of spirit bordering on naivety. The Catholic Church has no intention of ever giving up the power to try and control the hearts and minds of as many children as it possibly can.
The solution is in the hands of the Government. Cabinet must mandate the Department of Education to nationalise the national schools. It would of course cause uproar but a bold plan is needed. Such a move need not be prohibitively expensive either if the Department of Education agrees to allow the church to have access to the schools, after normal classes have finished, to prepare children for sacraments, without charge, into perpetuity. I suspect that such classes would benefit from a very favourable pupil-rteacher ratio. – Is mise,
GREG SCANLON,
Shannon,
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Co Clare.