Common decency
by planetparker
John O’Donoghue has received a nice fat severance payment, plus pension, PLUS his TD’s salary, after looting the state’s coffers. Given the economic straights we are in, would it not be decent of him to give some of it back, or preferably make a donation to a charity or charities? I think it would be, but then decency is a quality in short supply among ALL our rulers, of whatever political party. The vast majority have been educated in denominational schools, whether by religious orders or their dioceses. Any attempt to limit the sphere of the religious in education is met with howls of indignation by the Catholic hierarchy. Admittedly I attended a Church of Ireland secondary school, the Royal School in Cavan, which, for reasons best known to its headmaster, is now ashamed to consider me a past pupil. Nevertheless, I still pride myself on knowing right from wrong and I can say with my hand on my heart that I have never stolen anything.
I don’t think though, they have much to be proud of. These schools have not produced better or more ethical people. Instead its products are greedy, nasty, narrow-minded hypocrites who however, are by and large willing to afford the Church a far wider influence than its dwindling numbers deserve.
O’Donoghue always showed what a nice Catholic boy he was when he’d start each Dail session with a prayer and a Sign of the Cross. This show reminded me of how classes were begun in the Catholic secondary school I attended for three months. There would be the recitation of the Hail Mary, with the l line “Seat of Wisdom Pray for Us” tagged on at the end; if little Padedy or Micky wasn’t able to answer a question to the teacheer’s satisfaction he could look forward to receiving a coff on the ear – and that was from the lay teachers. But sure it made men of them - men who would think nothing of cheating on and beating their wives or abusing their children.
More than ever I believe that I am in a kleptocracy, rules by thieves and scoundrels who are busily devising schemes of how much more they can steal from the little I have.
