Being a separate caste
Mar 31st, 2009 | By Ian Poulton | Category: Church of Ireland CommentIrish sectarianism sometimes has breathtaking qualities.
At a Dublin murder trial last Friday, the defence counsel stated his client was a “decent, hardworking, ordinary, middle-class man and a member of the Church of Ireland”.
“And a member of the Church of Ireland”, what does that mean? Is it a suggestion that our community is somehow immune to the failings of the rest of society? Is it a suggestion that people like us “don’t do that sort of thing”?
Why was it relevant? Why would a leading barrister even make…