PIERCE BROSNAN AND THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS

[ This is another case where a "celebrity" tells lies about the Catholic Church - once again the Christian Brothers even though Pierce Brosnan never attended a school run by the Christian Brothers! I don't think Brosnan himself has ever explained the discrepancy but it has been suggested that he meant the De La Salle Brothers.

Let's leave the religious orders out of it for a minute. Suppose that Pierce Brosnan had claimed that, while at school, he had been physically abused by pervert teacher Paddy Smith. It is pointed out to him that Mr. Paddy Smith never taught at his school. He replies: "Oh I meant pervert teacher Paddy Jones". What sort of credibility would attach to that allegation?

Reckless and/or lying allegations by "celebrities" have affected all school teachers (and indeed all authority figures). Everyone has to take special precautions against false accusers and this has devastated relationships between adults and children in this country.

Rory Connor
24 February 2008 ]

(A) Angry Brothers Reject Brosnan's Story of Cruelty
by John Walshe, Irish Independent, 12 June 2006

Irish film star Pierce Brosnan has angered the Christian Brothers over claims of cruelty by them during his time in school.

The comments were reported in 'The Times' [UK], which devoted a full page on Saturday to the decision by the Brothers to end their direct involvement in primary and secondary schools in Ireland.

The decision was first reported in the Irish Independent on Friday and the coverage in 'The Times' was largely negative.

It carried two articles, the second of which used comments attributed to the film star and other personalities.

'The Times' quoted a recent interview in which Brosnan remembered his "unhappy days" as a pupil under the Brothers before moving with his family to London.

"You'd stand there saying the 'Our Father' and some little boy would come in late, and just because he was late, you could see the veins pop out of (the Brother's) skull and you'd see the kid's head crack against the door. You'd see him being kicked.

"You'd see a little boy up at the blackboard trying to get the sums right and he couldn't, and he would be intimidated.

And he would be whacked, 'Get the sum right!' - Whack! 'Get the sum right!' Whack! Until the s**t ran down his legs.

"But the Brothers in both Ireland and England have expressed anger and dismay at the claims.

They said they never had a school in Navan, Co Meath, the hometown of Mr Brosnan.

"All allegations made by him concerning the Christian Brothers are without foundation," said a statement. It added that news of the Brothers establishing a new educational Trust for their schools provided the most recent context for reporting on blatantly false accusations against their members.

"The inaccurate information referred to concerning Mr Brosnan has been offered in biographical details in other contexts and in many places on the web," said a statement.

The Brothers have requested 'The Times' to acknowledge the inaccuracy and to publish an apology.

It is understood that there is also anger of very strong remarks made by Labour TD Emmet Stagg who called the Brothers "the greatest shower of savages and sadistic bastards I've met".

Many of the other comments former pupils are much more positive.

(B) Shaken and Stirred Maybe, But Not by CBS
by John Walshe, Irish Independent,13 June 2006

IT'S an international mystery that super spy 007 should be able to solve - why have so many sites on the world wide web got it wrong about where Pierce Brosnan went to school.

Either the James Bond star has a poor memory or he has been misquoted time and time again.

He has been widely quoted in different articles and websites talking about being frightened by the "dreadful" Christian Brothers whom he accused of cruelty.

But it was confirmed yesterday that he had never attended a Christian Brothers school in Navan where he lived, nor in England where he moved when he was 11 years old.

The Christian Brothers never had a school in Navan - it was run by the De la Salle Brothers.

However, the error is listed in hundreds of websites. It was repeated in an article in the 'London Times' on Saturday.

Mr Brosnan was unavailable for contact last night to explain the error - he is thought to be in Canada.

The official director of communications for the Christian Brothers, Bro Edmund Garvey in a letter to 'The Times' said that "Pierce Brosnan was never a pupil of one of our schools, in Ireland or anywhere else."

"The Christian Brothers referred to in the article never had a school in Mr Brosnan's hometown."

Meanwhile parents' groups have reacted strongly to comments made by Labour TD Emmet Stagg who described the Brothers as "the greatest shower of savages and sadistic bastards I've met".

The president of the National Parents Council (post-primary) Jim Jackman said "I feel Emmet Stagg's comments are over the top. Maybe he is coming from a personal place. There is no doubt but that being educated in the sixties and seventies was far from a picnic. I didn't enjoy the experience myself, but the majority of the brothers that taught me were "decent individuals".

Comment: Pierce Brosnan's behaviour has much in commom with that of Amanda Brunker [1] and Brian McFadden [2] in relation to Bishop Comiskey and the Christian Brothers respectively. Unlike them he cannot be described as a Z-list celebrity who was just looking for publicity. It's probable that he has real issues in his private life and is looking for someone to blame. The fact that he attacked the "wrong" people - and then failed to apologise - indicates that he is not dealing with his problems, whatever they are. He blamed the Christian Brothers because they are the main male religious order that is being savaged by the media!

[1] See "Cathal O'Searcaigh and His Critics" on www.alliancesupport.org on 14 February 2008

[2] See "Brian McFadden and the Christian Brothers" on www.alliancesupport.org on 20 February 2008