McAleese says children in Northern Ireland are still ‘being taught to hate’
FORMER president Mary McAleese has said children in Northern Ireland are still “being taught to hate”.
Reflecting on the recent violence in the North, Belfast-born Ms McAleese said: “It’s very familiar territory. Regrettably, it arises because they’re in a vacuum, and there is undoubtedly a vacuum of the leadership.
“There is bound to be the consequences of Brexit, which, if we go back to Brexit, we realise how little consideration was given in the planning of Brexit and the referendum, of the impact that would have in Northern Ireland.
“You’re also dealing with young people, regrettably, who are still being taught to hate and who are bringing that hatred and expressing it out on the streets.
“They are 13 and 14 years of age. What experience do they have of life?”
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s children’s commissioner Koulla Yiasouma said the behaviour of some adults in relation to the unrest in the region amounts to child abuse.
Children as young as 12 are said to have taken part in some of the riots during the week, while three male teenagers, all aged 14, were arrested following unrest on Friday night.
Ms Yiasouma said children were being coerced into participating by adults.
“This is criminal exploitation and coercion by adults of vulnerable and at-risk children and young people and these adults have to be held accountable and stopped,” she told the BBC.
When asked if it amounted to abuse of children, she replied: “Child abuse is a very loaded term but I think it is within that safeguarding family of abuses children may suffer and experience.
“When it comes to safeguarding issues I would put it in that group, yes.”
She added: “Enough is enough when the first petrol bomb or stone is thrown. It’s criminal actors trying to take control and what we need is a calm narrative from our politicians.
“We need them to be seen to be supporting our community workers on the ground. These young people are still there.
“It shows how fragile some of the communities are and that is in spite of the fantastic work people are doing over 20 years of relative peace.”