Democratic Unionist Party MLA Diane Dodds recently took to twitter to wish everyone a happy New Year.
In almost any other society, in any other country on Earth, this would have been totally unremarkable. Sadly though, we in Northern Ireland are plagued, tormented and held back by a disturbed, hateful, backward and downright toxic minority who will readily sieze any opportunity to spread their vitriolic and sectarian poison.
New year – same old nationalist bigotry, propaganda and hatred.
And so one particular twitter user decided to reply Mrs Dodds’ tweet with a sickening reference to the Dodds’ dead son, Andrew, who sadly passed away in 1998, aged just 8 years.
I have a screenshot of the offending message, as I’m sure do many others, but I am not going to post it to this blog. Suffice to say that it was sickening, vile and designed to cause as much hurt and offence as possible.
At this point you might well be asking yourself who would do such a thing, who would (and could) stoop so low?
The problem that Irish nationalists refuse to address – their own community’s hatred, racism and bigotry.
The answer is not “internet trolls” or “twitter trolls”. The answer is Irish nationalist extremists.
Irish nationalist extremists who believe that they can shut down social media users who do not share their bigoted, prejudiced and often racist worldview.
Irish nationalist extremists who cannot help themselves when it comes to expressing their irrational, psychotic hatred of anything Unionist, Loyalist, British or non-Catholic.
A (sizable) minority of radicalised individuals, often acting in an organised manner, who believe that social media, like the very soil of Northern Ireland, should belong solely to those who are Irish, “gaelic”, ultra-nationalist and Roman Catholic.
I am loathe to even mention religion but it has to be mentioned because the nationalist/republican trolls of twitter are absolutely obsessed with it.
To them “Catholic” and “irish nationalist” seem to be interchangeable terms which mean exactly the same. It is an outdated, archaic attitude. Almost medieval but, alas, it is an attitude which seems to be deeply ingrained within the nationalist community, especially amongst those extremists who spend the most time on social media.
It is not only sectarianism that oozes out of such individuals, they often spew out deeply racist comments, jibes, slurs and insults. They often engage in misogyny too, with Unionist/Loyalist women apparently seen as “fair game” by these pernicious, angry, embittered trolls.
Nothing is taboo to these Irish nationalist keyboard commandos. Nothing is too hateful, too ignorant, too vile, too rotten or too evil.
Twitter has no problem with users casually tweeting about sectarian genocide – as long as those users are Irish nationalists of course!
Such individuals call for widescale ethnic cleansing on a daily basis. They mock Ulster-Scots culture and deny the very existence of the Ullans leid. They insult the memory of terrorist victims. They goad the families of victims. They spread lies and disinformation. They libel people. They threaten people. They post ghoulish images of people murdered by Irish nationalist criminal gangs.
They justify the actions of republican murder gangs. They taunt people. They accuse people of drug dealing or of being members of proscribed organisations. They post offensive racist and sectarian memes. They applaud sectarian vandalism. They harass women. They harass elected representatives. They harass Loyalist activists and community workers. And they get away with it!
In the eyes of twitter support Irish nationalists can do no wrong. Even the vile, reprehensible tweet sent to Diane Dodds wasn’t deemed to violate twitters rules on abuse. Nationalists and republicans seem to be able to do and say exactly as they please whilst twitter bans other users for the most innocuous things.
Of course, the so-called political “leadership” of Irish nationalism remains steadfastly silent on the issue. They refuse to even acknowledge the problem.
One would expect such an attitude from Sinn Fein, the morally bankrupt political wing of the blood drenched Provisional IRA. One does not expect it, however, from the SDLP. Yet they are as silent, as acquiescenct, as the Shinners.
The Provisional republican movement will never criticise or rebuke Irish nationalist online trolls. Precisely because most of those trolls are Provisional Sinn Fein voters, supporters and, in many cases, party members and activists.
It is much more difficult to fathom why the SDLP, People Before Profit and Aontu will not acknowledge that the Irish nationalist community has a very real and very serious problem with online trolling, bigotry and sectarianism.
Profile picture of an Irish nationalist terrorist? No problem on twitter.
Some will feebly attempt to argue that “both sides are as bad as each other”. That’s a non-starter. It’s patent nonsense. We have challenged (and will continue to challenge) any individual who believes such propaganistic idiocy to produce their evidence and have offered to provide them with eight examples of nationalist bigotry and hate-speech for every one example they find from a supposedly Unionist or Loyalist social media account.
I don’t for one moment believe that the ratio is 8-1. I honestly believe that it is more likely to be at least 12-1 and possibly much higher even than that.
If the Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson took screenshots of the disturbing, disgusting and often sinister abusive replies his tweets recieve from Irish nationalists on a daily basis, I am 100% sure that he would have (literally) tens of thousands of examples and could probably add at least another 50 every single day.
ISOT have compiled almost 5,000 such screenshots. We continue to add that collection on a daily basis, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year. Even on Christmas day.
Why do we wade through such moronic bigotry, such vile and hateful crap? Because we believe that the problem is a serious one, one which destroys community cohesion and further deepens the catastrophic division which exists within Northern Ireland society.
“snouts” = Protestants
The issue of Irish nationalist online hate must be addressed, sooner rather than later. To their credit, some journalists have addressed it, though others, notably those who are themselves from a nationalist background, continue to ignore it.
Not every Irish nationalist is a social media troll of course. Many nationalists, like many other people, are not on social media and many of those who are conduct themselves in a civil and correct manner. Those people are not the problem. The problem is the very large number of Irish nationalists and republicans believe that abusing people on social media is an extension of the so-called ‘armed struggle’.
The same kind of people who sheltered, fed, funded and supported Irish nationalist murder gangs like the Official IRA, Provisional IRA, INLA and IPLO.
The kind of people who believe that their Protestant neighbours are “planters” and “colonists” and “immigrants”. The kind of people who have fully bought into the dehumanising anti-Loyalist and Anti-British narrative of Provisional Sinn Fein and it’s front organisations.
The kind of people who thought Ladfleg was hilarious satire when, to most impartial observers, it was nothing but a vicious, nasty and sectarian group of well organised trolls.
“trools”
Let’s not forget that the current crop of nationalist trolls learned their trade from “the Lads”. A group which was a rogue’s gallery of bitter Irish republican bigots, scam artists, Far-Left agitators, alcoholics and drug addicts.
Oops
It was Ladfleg that began the toxic and dehumanising “all Prodz is stoopid” narrative, now taken up with zeal by latter day nationalist trolls. It is also worth remembering that the ‘LAD’ group, as admitted by one of their own members, operated hundreds of social media ‘sock puppet’ accounts, a tactic now employed by Irish nationalist trolls more widely.
It was concerted pressure from Loyalists that put an end to that particular group, causing it to implode in spectacular fashion with former ‘Lads’ sending ourselves (and others) cringing messages, full of details of how the group operated etc., in the hope of distancing themselves the worst of the fall-out over its collapse.
It is much more difficult to expose and shut down the Irish nationalist/republican trolls operating on twitter currently. Indeed, it could be likened to trying to nail jelly to a wall.
Accounts appear and disappear. Some tweet a storm of abuse then remain dormant for months. Others keep up a steady drip, drip, drip of bigotry, propaganda, lies and insults.
Some, like the account responsible for the outrageous and disgusting tweet sent to Diane Dodds, are over-the-top, blatantly racist and sectarian, overtly hateful and offensive. Others are much more subtle, no doubt carefully following the Provisional Sinn Fein guidelines set out for their “online supporters” to follow.
Some fall somewhere in between the two extremes, but they all share commonalities. All of them use the same unsophisticated vocabulary. All of them subscribe to the same reductionist, almost childish, historical narrative trotted out by PIRA/Sinn Fein. All of them are motivated by the same irrational, illogical hatred of anything that they perceive to be ‘the other’.
They deflect, deny, distort and deligitimise. They express dismay and disdain for any position which deviates from Irish nationalist orthodoxy. They insult, goad, abuse, mock and attempt to intimidate. In many ways their tactics mirror those of nationalist/republican terror groups.
As one twitter user (@BigMickThomo) recently put it – “Online anonymity has replaced the balaclava.“
I couldn’t have put it any better. It is a succinct and devastatingly accurate way to sum up the sort of pond life who infest social media, spewing hatred and bile in every direction.
The efforts of these radicalised Irish nationalist extremists are often counterproductive. They call attention to the kind of hatred and fear that seems to permeate through the nationalist/republican community like some virulent disease.
Occasionally they go too far and one of their number ends up in court, thus briefly shining a light on the behaviour of these online extremists.
That doesn’t mean that their trolling and bigotry should ever be tolerated. They perpetuate sectarian attitudes, spread lies and wild allegations about innocent people, prop up the dehumanising republican narrative, cause gross offence, spread wild disinformation, disseminate PIRA/SF propaganda and generally make social media a cesspit for ordinary, decent people.
An INLA supporter who clearly doesn’t know what the word “sectarian” means.
No one is trolled as relentlessly as Unionist/Loyalist women and those from a Catholic background. I suggest that they think that the former are somehow an easy target, whilst they regard the latter as being turn-coats or “soup drinkers”, to borrow the terminology of the hard-of-thinking.
It is in these cases where the misogynistic attitude of these nationalist trolls, and their overt sectarianism, really comes to light. All of their hatred comes bubbling to the surface, their extremist views are no longer hidden behind a thin veil of sarcasm, mockery and school-yard “humour”.
It is long past time for our elected representatives to attempt to tackle this issue. Unionist MLAs should be publicly asking why nationalist politicians deny that any such problem exists. They should shut down the ridiculous “both sides are as bad as each other” narrative before it has a chance to gain traction.
It is long hanging fruit, an easy way to put Irish nationalism under the microscope and seriously damage the carefully crafted image that Provisional Sinn Fein and the SDLP have worked for years to create. Especially Provisional Sinn Fein!
I won’t hold my breath however. For now it looks like the campaign against Irish nationalist online extremism and trolling will have to be conducted (as always) by us lowly Loyalist and Unionist activists.
That won’t deter us. We are, by now, rather used to having to rely on ourselves. We are not talking about moving mountains either. It is not difficult to expose these hateful idiots. It is not difficult to document their activities and their hate-speech.
The only thing necessary is for all Loyalists and Unionists on social media to screenshot any and all examples of nationalist hate and bigotry that they come across, report it and either post their screenshots or pass them to someone who will, or someone more high profile who has a much larger audience.
The more this problem is exposed to the light of public scrutiny, the harder it will be for Irish nationalist political parties, the media and the social media companies to ignore.
More terrorist imagery, this time a twitter header.
The unadulterated hatred and bigotry of these nationalist/republican “keyboard warriors” presents Loyalists and Unionists with an almost unique opportunity to expose Irish nationalism for what it really is – a crude form of religious separatism, firmly anchored in 19th century ideas of natavism and “blood and soil” ethnocentrism.
Almost incredibly, in the second decade of the 21st century, the issue of integrated education (ie educating Catholic and non-Catholic children together) remains controversial in Northern Ireland. A situation almost unique in the developed world, the only other exception being Scotland.
For those readers outside Northern Ireland, allow me to elucidate; NI has four main types of schools- State schools (which are also known as ‘Controlled Schools’), Catholic schools, Integrated Schools and Gaelic language schools.
According to figures from the Department of Education, there are some 560 state schools, almost half of the total number of schools registered in Northern Ireland. The number of pupils attending these schools, both primary and secondary, is approximately 140,000, or about 42% of all pupils.
In terms of religious breakdown, 66% of those pupils are Protestant, 10% are Roman Catholic, 18% have no religion and 6% are ‘other’. State schools are managed by the Education Authority through various Boards of Governors.
A State primary school in East Belfast
There are 466 Roman Catholic-managed schools, under the authority of the ‘Council for Catholic Maintained Schools’. According to figures from the Dept. of Education, the number of pupils attending Catholic schools is 121,733, or about 37%.
The CCMS has 36 governing council members, who (unsurprisingly) are appointed rather than being democratically elected.
Integrated schools are institutions usually established with the express intention of educating children together, regardless of religious or community background, the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE), a voluntary organisation, oversees integrated education in Northern Ireland. Just over 24,000 children were enrolled at Integrated Schools in 2020/21.
Gaelic language schools are, as the name suggests, schools which teach through the medium of the gaelic language.
Gaelic language schools, or ‘Gaelscoileanna’, are outside of state control but are able to achieve “grant-aided status”, by applying for voluntary maintained status. In addition to free-standing schools, gaelic language education is also provided through units in a small number of existing (CCMS) schools.
Of the two types of gaelic language schools in NI there are 27 ‘stand alone’ gaelic language schools and just 12 gaelic language units attached to English-medium host schools.
In addition to this, there are two fully independent schools teaching through the medium of the gaelic language. ‘Gaelscoil Ghleann Darach’ in Crumlin, Co. Antrim, and ‘Gaelscoil na Daróige’ in the city of Londonderry. ‘Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta’ (CnaG) is the representative body for gaelic schools.
The proposed new-build campus of a gaelic language school
Just 7,000 pupils are enrolled in these gaelic language schools, many of which have pupil numbers so low that they would trigger immediate closure within any other school sector, especially the State sector.
This present hodgepodge situation, which disadvantages all children but especially those within the under-funded state sector, could easily have been avoided however if Northern Ireland’s first devolved government had won it’s battle with the churches.
True History Forgotten – Again!
The efforts of the first Northern Ireland education minister, the seventh Marquess of Londonderry (1878-1949) to integrate and modernise education have (almost predictably) now largely been forgotten but, had his proposals been accepted without major alterations, generations of children in NI could have benefited from a modern, secular and above all, integrated education.
Sadly though, his reforms were torn asunder by various denominational interests, in particular those of the Roman Catholic church.
The great reformer – Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry, KG, MVO, PC, PC
Lord Londonderry decided from the outset to make radical and controversial changes to education. Changes which would have created a first class school system which would have seen children of all classes and creeds educated together.
Education in Ireland was, historically, beset by many difficulties, a lack of uniformity, small enrollment numbers in many schools and a genuine, deep-rooted concern about the influence of so-called “school-managers”, who were almost always clergymen.
Many so-called ‘national schools’, established in the 19th century, had become sectarian institutions, in terms of both character and control. School management boards had been completely taken over by local clergy, especially in predominantly Roman Catholic areas.
Attempts to remove this malign influence, such as the MacPherson Bill (1919), failed mainly because of opposition from the Roman Catholic church and their allies in the Nationalist Party. As a result Ireland, unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, did not benefit from any significant reforms in education.
With the official creation of the state of Northern Ireland in May, 1921, control of education automatically passed to the newly elected devolved government.
That control, however, was to remain tenuous for several years. Once again it was the Catholic church and it’s servants within Irish nationalism that tried to thwart educational reform.
For a while, religious segregation in education continued unchallenged but that situation would not continue for much longer, with the Unionist government of Northern Ireland determined to end segregated education.
The Government of Ireland Act, approved by Westminster in December, 1920, delivered self-determination to the island of Ireland, with the creation of separate northern and southern states with limited self-governing powers, including responsibility for education.
Section 5 of the Act prevented, by law, either state from making:
“a law so as either directly or indirectly to establish or endow any religion … or give a preference, privilege, or advantage, or impose any disability or disadvantage, on account of religious belief … or affect prejudicially the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending the religious instruction at that school”
Government of Ireland Act (1920)
This constituted a serious challenge to the existing education system as it implicitly implied that schools had to come under state control if they wanted to access public funding.
In a speech to the Northern Ireland Senate in June, 1921, Lord Londonderry made it very clear what his hopes were:
“I feel that everybody realises the importance of this great question, and that everybody is determined to do his utmost to collect in one great body and in one band all the great educational forces of the country, so as to elaborate a system which will be satisfactory in every respect. There are naturally difficulties which surround this question. They have been acute at different times and they subsided at other times but I do feel that with co-operation and with sympathy we will be able to evolve a system which will be the admiration of all other countries.”
Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry.
Londonderry faced seemingly insurmountable problems. A new ministry of education had to be created from scratch, a task made much more difficult by uncooperative officials in Dublin, motivated by bigotry and petty spite, not transferring relevant materials and staff.
Even more seriously, the Irish nationalist minority in Northern Ireland boycotted the new state. Encouraged by the Sinn Féin leadership in Dublin, particularly Michael Collins, they naively hoped that Northern Ireland would not last long as a separate political entity.
Roman Catholic bishops in NI— the community and moral leaders of northern nationalists and republicans — seemed to enthusiastically share in this delusion and advocated abstention from the Parliament of Northern Ireland, refusing to recognise its lawful authority.
Arch-bigot Logue
One of the most vocal opponents of the new Ulster state was the Catholic archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Logue, who was noted for his intransigent and bigoted views. Logue refused to have anything to do with Northern Ireland and instructed his ‘flock’ to follow his example.
Logue was an unabashed bigot and an intractable opponent of integrated education and would prove to be a constant thorn in the side of the reform minded and progressive Lord Londonderry.
Michael Logue, archbishop of Armagh
In September, 1921, Londonderry established the “Lynn committee on education reform”. It was hoped that all interested parties would sit on this body and clerics from all of the major churches were invited to join, including Logue. The cardinal refused to join or even to allow others under him to do so.
At this time around a third of all Catholic schools refused to even recognise the authority of the Ministry of Education; with staff continuing to draw their salaries from Dublin instead.
The Marquess of Londonderry urged cardinal Logue to reconsider his position. The arrogant and power-hungry Mr. Logue replied, ludicrously describing the committee as “an attack…organised against our schools”. He maintained this stance despite the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty which had effectively guaranteed the existence of the State of Northern Ireland.
Logue’s backward and narrowly sectarian attitude deprived the committee of any official Catholic input and retarded development of the “one great body” that Londonderry had so desperately hoped for. It is from this belligerence that all the subsequent problems of this period can be traced.
Nevertheless the committee established by Lord Londonderry convened, under the chairmanship of Mr. R.J. Lynn, then editor of the Belfast Newsletter, they pressed on with hearings throughout 1922 and presented interim findings to Londonderry that summer.
Only one Roman Catholic, the interestingly named Napoleon Bonaparte-Wyse, defied Cardinal Logue and accepted the invitation to be involved with the committee. He was something of a maverick and quickly became a hate figure in the Catholic and nationalist press.
But Bonaparte-Wyse was a very skilled administrator, having had considerable knowledge of education policy from his years as a civil servant in Dublin and, to his eternal credit, he put in a tremendous amount of work on behalf of the committee.
The Committee Reports
The report recommended structural changes and local accountability for state schools that would eventually be embodied in the subsequent education act.
Schools wishing to retain full independence were provided for— with the quite reasonable proviso that they would receive reduced funding. An intermediate category was also created, falling somewhere between full state control and independence, in which ‘school managers’ would be appointed by both the local authority and any affiliated church.
Such schools would receive more funding than those which were totally independent but less than the full funding of those completely transferred to the state sector.
May Street National School, North Belfast
It was hoped that this financial lure would enable a transition of unwilling church schools from full independence to the state via intermediate status. In place of clerics the local education authorities would appoint managers whilst still allowing clergy a “right of entry” to schools. A concession that, in the opinion of this author, should never have been made.
The committee also compromised it’s secular ideals by recommending that “simple bible instruction” should be provided on a voluntary basis.
Lord Londonderry agreed to the changes recommended by Lynn but, correctly, rejected Bible instruction as unconstitutional. Unpaid religious instruction would only be permitted after school hours and with express parental consent. This proved to be too much for some parties and even for some reactionary elements within the Unionist Party.
Nevertheless, the main Protestant churches welcomed the interim report, as did the Orange Order. The Roman Catholic church however, did not.
Despite some division in cabinet Londonderry won collective support with the help of Prime Minister Craig and (future Prime Minister) J.M. Andrews. In the spring of 1923, the Education Act (Northern Ireland), more commonly known as “the Londonderry Act” was passed.
Sir James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon on the cover of Time magazine, 1924
Catholic schools had, predictably, lost financial support from the Irish Free State in October, 1922, and were forced, albeit reluctantly, to recognise the education ministry’s authority in order to receive funding. Now fully involved in the system they had so strenuously resisted, they vociferously rejected the report as an attack on their religion.
Unlike the emerging Free State system, Northern Ireland’s proposed secular and integrated state schools would not promote the Catholic religion or so-called ‘gaelic culture’. Whilst it would not promote Protestant values either, the new system was seen by the majority of Roman Catholics as doing so obliquely. A case of “that which is not Catholic must be our enemy”.
The end of 1922 had seen something of a battle of wills between Catholic teachers and the Ministry of Education over the oath of allegiance to the King, which was quite reasonably required of all public servants.
Many believed that this would be an important test case, with a government victory proving, once and for all, that it was the Ministry of Education, not the Catholic church that was truly in charge of education in Ulster.
Due to the financial dependency of Catholic teachers upon the ministry it was inevitable that the government would win. The Catholic school system had lost a battle that they themselves had instigated, simply because of their intransigence and unreasonable demands for self-exclusion. Unfortunately though, the outcome was not as decisive as many had hoped.
Protestant churches had agreed to transfer the schools under their (marginal) control to state control despite the lack of religion in the school timetable. They quickly changed their minds however when it became clear that Roman Catholic controlled schools would remain independent and only ‘Protestant schools’ would have to abide by state rules, specifically – no church control over teacher appointments and no religious instruction on the curriculum.
To compound this, Catholics would have a say in the appointment of teachers in state schools through the (exclusively Catholic) Irish nationalist party members of local education authorities, something which was keenly felt by Protestants in border areas who had already experienced sectarian discrimination at the hands of nationalist controlled councils.
Segregation and Discrimination
There were clear examples of discrimination against Protestants by Irish nationalist controlled councils, especially with regard to social housing, from the very birth of Northern Ireland as a state. By the 1960s, such discrimination against non-Catholics was endemic, having reached such extraordinary levels that in Newry in 1963, only 22 out of 765 newly allocated council houses were given to Protestants.
Curiously, we hear little or nothing today about that discrimination.
“Liberty of Teaching”
The Catholic church were utterly opposed to the new education act and opposed to any kind of educational integration or loss of church control over schools.
This, however, was neither a new position, nor one unique to Ulster. In the 1850s, to cite just one such example, in New York and other adjacent urban areas, Catholics implemented a system of parish-based schools.
The Roman Catholic church remained resolutely and unreasonably opposed to any form of integrated education, or indeed to anything that would dilute their control over the schooling of “their children”.
One of the things which concerned the church most was the content of the curricula delivered in state schools, for the church hierarchy was firmly opposed to the notion of “liberty of teaching”.
In this instance, the RC church prevailed, though in most cases, the struggle over education between the state and the Catholic church resulted in the capitulation of the latter. Even in Catholic strongholds like France.
Between 1881 and 1882, the French Minister of Public Education, Jules Ferry, promoted a series of reforms establishing a free, obligatory and secular system of primary education. Catholic authorities, apoplectic with rage, vehemently and passionately opposed Ferry’s reforms, although in the end the church had little choice but to accept the new system or be totally cut off from public funding, a stark choice which church controlled schools in Ulster should, in my opinion, also have faced.
M. Jules Ferry, French Minister of Public Education
In Northern Ireland though, the battle over schools continued, with the Roman Catholic church throwing up fresh obstacles at every turn in order to thwart Londonderry’s plans.
The Catholic church even opposed the idea of Catholic and non-Catholic teachers being trained together.
They would not allow male Catholic trainee teachers to enrol at Stranmillis teacher training college, as they did not want them educated alongside (Catholic) women or Protestants.
Almost unbelievably, the RC church even refused to send male student teachers to St Mary’s college in Belfast, which was already training Catholic women, preferring instead to send male student teachers to a college in the Irish Free State and forbidding them from attending Stranmillis.
Stranmillis College, Belfast
Understandably, the Ministry of Education insisted that teachers would have to be trained in Northern Ireland, as the curriculum and education system in the Free State was, of course, at significant variance to that of Northern Ireland.
The Marquess Londonderry also had to deal with the constitutional problem of funding a denominational college. The Catholic church though, persisted in petulantly demanding a separate Northern Ireland college for Catholic men.
However, despite the diktats and veiled threats of leading bishop Joseph MacRory, Stranmillis recorded fifty applications from Roman Catholics in 1923.
Most of these were retracted though when the Catholic church made it clear that teachers graduating from Stranmillis would not be employed in “their” schools.
Lord Londonderry had to resolve the matter, needing teachers for Catholic schools but wanting also to prevent too many Catholics coming into the state sector, lest it would cause a backlash amongst non-Catholics.
Some progress was made when Bonaparte-Wyse met MacRory’s representatives for talks. The Catholic church however rejected every proposal made, until they themselves put forward the idea of separate lectures and subjects for Catholics in Stranmillis, also demanding a separate hostel and grounds for Catholic student teachers, lest they become ‘contaminated’ by close contact with non-Catholics.
The Ministry countered by suggesting that Catholic student teachers could instead be sent to Strawberry Hill, a Catholic training college near London. Lord Londonderry knew that MacRory would not move and towards the end of 1924, wrote to another important bishop, Bishop Patrick O’Donnell, but continuing Cardinal Logue’s boycott, O’Donnell refused several invitations to join a committee to resolve the issue.
Londonderry refused to leave it there however and continued to request his input. Persistence paid off, and in January, 1925, O’Donnell succeeded Logue as Archbishop of Armagh. Somewhat more liberal than his predecessor, O’Donnell agreed to meet Londonderry later in the month.
Strawberry Hill was agreed as a temporary measure. For Londonderry this was a successful solution as no (unconstitutional) new college would have to be built and Ulster Catholics could train in England.
True Secularism Sacrificed
Despite the relatively successful outcome to the “training crisis” it could not hide the fact that the 1923 act was badly damaged.
The vast majority of NI Catholics and Protestants would not be educated together at any level outside university and Catholic schools remained strictly denominational in both character and practice.
The appointment of teachers had also become a contentious issue. Under the terms of the constitution, state schools, unlike independent Catholic schools, were forbidden to “hire or fire” on the basis of religion.
Some correctly viewed this as being an inequality- as State schools could not show any preference in the hiring of staff, whilst Roman Catholic schools could and did and still do to this day.
Such fears were founded in the very real fact that a significant number of Catholics were applying to enrol at the state’s newly established Stranmillis teacher training college, despite a ban on doing so from their church hierarchy.
Lord Londonderry tried to quell opposition by explaining to the various delegations of backbenchers MPs and Protestant clerics who came to see him that a religious input could be accommodated outside school hours.
Practical and constitutional explanations fell on deaf ears though as those Protestants opposed to the new education system could only compare their lack of control over the hiring of teaching staff to the independent Catholic sector who did have such control.
The opposition of the Protestant churches grew throughout 1924, gaining some popular support. Church groups appealed to the Prime Minister, James Craig, believing him to be more open to hearing their views.
But the Marquess of Londonderry dug his heels in, determined not to alter his act. The United Education Committee (UEC), comprised of Protestant school managers, retaliated with claims that the act was anti-Protestant and began to harness growing mass support.
The Northern Ireland Cabinet, 1922
The growing pressure proved too much for Craig. An Amendment Act was passed in March, 1925. Cabinet papers suggest it was the Prime Minister’s proposal; it certainly went against both the wishes of Londonderry and the spirit of true secularism.
After some disagreement with the UEC it was agreed that the new act would make it obligatory for paid state teachers to give “simple Bible instruction“, although this would remain non-compulsory.
Protestant ministers were also assured that school management committees, on which some continued to sit, would now have some say in the appointment of teaching staff, although still nowhere near as much influence as the Catholic church maintained within “their” schools.
With the act in tatters, Londonderry’s relationship with Craig worsened, almost certainly contributing to his resignation in January, 1926. The Marquess of Londonderry later entered the UK cabinet as ‘Secretary of State for Air’, serving in that ministry from 1931 to 1935.
The Consequences
Young hopes were denied . The vast majority of Ulster’s children would not be educated together. Division and distrust would continue to grow unchecked.
I have absolutely no doubt that had Londonderry’s strident and bold reforms passed unadulterated, or if he had gone further still and, as in France in the late 19th century, offered schools the stark choice between church control or public funds, the benefit to Northern Ireland would have been enormous.
Years of violence and upheaval could have been avoided. Discrimination (by either community) would have become unthinkable within one or two generations. Prosperity would have increased. Tens, possibly hundreds of millions of pounds would have been saved. Old parochial attitudes would have been consigned to history.
Both Unionism and Irish nationalism would have been obliged to keep pace with the changing attitudes of society. Moderation and forward thinking would have become the order of the day.
Indeed, Irish nationalism as an ideology may well have become a relic of a bygone era. The vaguely defined and laughably romanticised ‘utopia’ of a unified 32 county gaelic workers and farmers republic, of the type long dreamt of by Irish nationalists and republicans, would appear utterly ridiculous to a prosperous, well informed, well educated and forward looking populace.
Especially one which had been spared from years of sectarian slaughter, no-warning bomb attacks, “proxy bombs”, “security alerts” and the subsequent (and inevitable) militarisation of the entire country.
But, of course, history did not follow that particular path. Slavish, unthinking, child-like devotion to religion ultimately triumphed over secularism, logic and reason.
Integration died an early death, and with it died the dreams of Unionist radicals like Londonderry.
What Ulster got instead was generation after generation of children who were not so much educated as indoctrinated.
A “separate but equal” school system absolutely no different to the racially segregated school system in operation in the American South during the years of the “Jim Crow Laws.
Supporters of educational segregation in the southern United States, 1958
A virtual state within a state, in which children as young as 4 were (and are) taught that they are different to their neighbours, simply because they were born into a sect that interprets centuries old religious dogma differently to other branches of the same religion.
A school system which inculcates, however obliquely, opposition and hostility to the very state which funds it.
All that follows is tragically inevitable.
“Semper Eadem”
To this very day, Irish nationalist political parties and the Catholic church remain fundamentally opposed to integrated education, sometimes hiding behind the smokescreen of so-called “parental choice“, sometimes dreaming up other excuses to defend the appalling, backward and discriminatory “separate but equal” school system.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that there will ever be radical secularisation in Northern Ireland. We will never see religion taken out of the classroom, or rather, we will never see religion taken out of some classrooms!
Nevertheless, integrated education is something worth campaigning for. The children of Northern Ireland deserve better. They deserve an educational system that does not pigeonhole them at age four.
Only we, the people of Northern Ireland, can end educational apartheid.
It is a goal that we should all be working towards. Everyone of us having our own small part to play.
As we have said before – don’t just complain about, do something to change it.
Such change will only come about through activism, engagement, dialogue, the highlighting of issues, the challenging of existing attitudes, the promotion of alternatives and application of incessant pressure on the relevant parties.
Write to (or email, or telephone) your local MP and MLAs, help to highlight the issue of educational apartheid, use your social media account(s) to call for change. Talk to your friends and family about it. Together we can end segregated education. Together we must end segregated education. Join us!
It's still only thursday 
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