President Michael D. Higgins. President Higgins has responded to criticism of his recent comments about education in the North, saying that the position was taken “out of context”, rejecting the idea that he had insulted anybody.
Mr Higgins told The Late Late Show that separating children in the North according to their religious denominations is to abandon them “to parcels of hate and memory that others are manipulating”.
Speaking to the Irish News, President Higgins defended his comments and position.
“I wasn’t interested in insulting anyone,” he said, “And I am sorry if they were, but they shouldn’t (be),” President Higgins said.
He insisted that he isn’t against the right of parents to choose their children’s education, but that he wants “parents to choose to educate their children together”.
President Higgins comments drew criticism from Catholic commentators, including Baroness Nuala O’Loan who told this paper that she doesn’t “know of any Catholic – or indeed any Protestant – who has ever told me that they were taught to hate the other people – the other side if you like – in school”.