Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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If nobody else wants to respond, I might follow on by saying that I was fascinated by what we heard in the opening statements. Many people would have been unaware that there seems to be evidence in that regard. Practising Catholics are mentioned specifically. I am not surprised by that because I heard anecdotal reports about children who dared to go against the cultural grain in school on big sociopolitical issues feeling the heat from their classmates, often, ironically, in faith-based schools. It seems that minorities are always in the line of fire for bullying. Today's minority is not the same as yesterday's and, as a result, there is a constant need to upgrade our thinking. Do the witnesses have any views on whether a hegemonic media culture that could be seen as hostile to religion could be part of the problem in creating a context where bullying now occurs?