Sir, - Mr William Reville makes the point (letters, October 12th) that the good and bad qualities of the Christian Brothers were representative of Irish society as a whole, and that we cannot condemn them without condemning ourselves. This sounds reasonable; but I and many others remember them as sadistic, brutal and bigoted to an extent to which we were not subjected in other aspects of Irish life in the 1950s.
They did not represent the norms of society; they were worse than the prevailing norms. Perhaps they did good to some but they also did great harm to many young minds in their care.
Happily, the Christian Brothers are now de clawed and on the defensive. Their numbers are in decline and they will soon be gone from our schools, ending a shameful chapter in Irish education. Good riddance. Yours, etc.,
Holmpatrick Terrace,
Skerries,
Co Dublin.