One, Professor Corkery, a Unionist senator, opined that ‘The parents of large families should be fined for having so many children.’27 This was no isolated view. In 1956 the Catholic birth rate had caused the Unionists to attempt a derogation from the established policy of moving in step with Britain to introduce to the north any social welfare improvements effected in the ‘UK mainland’. The initial enabling Bill sought to give fourth and subsequent children less than the British benefits. But liberal Protestant opinion forced Brookeborough to announce on 12 June 1956 that he was dropping the
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