Todd Andrews, the ex-Synge Street, ex-IRA man, then managing director of the state turf company Bórd na Mona, is, in an obituary tribute to the school’s recently deceased head Brother, most explicit about what is going on: ‘Boys attending Synge Street came from modest homes. They had no influence, no contacts, no background, the auspices were not favourable for their advancement in fields of professional endeavour. Brother Roche foresaw the changing times and the shift of power from the alien to the native… he applied his vitality to equip his pupils to take their part in forming the new
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