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Brent book is a study in tolerance  An
Irish politician living in Britain has written a book about the racial
tensions that threatened to engulf a north west London borough in the
1980s.
James Moher was born in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary and after being educated
in Cork, moved to London where he has been living since the age of 19.
His new book Stepping On White Corns focuses on the political incidents
that caught the nation’s attention in Brent in the 1980s.
The well-documented case that saw headteacher Maureen McGoldrick suspended
for making an alleged racist remark to a council officer served as the
catalyst for the book and also for Mr Moher’s political career.
Brent Education Authority suspended McGoldrick despite huge public support
for her case.
Moher said: “I wrote the book because of the situation regarding
the McGoldrick case as my two kids Daniel and Joanna were at the school
involved in the controversy.
“The book is a study in tolerance.
“The McGoldrick case was a symptom of the wider issues at the time.
“It is the inside story
to the politics behind major controversies which touched the lives of
all residents, not least the 16 per cent or so of Irish extraction.”
The Irishman lives in Sudbury where he is a Labour councillor, a governor
in two schools and deputy leader of the Labour Group in Brent.
He said: “I moved to London initially for a couple of years to save
money to study in UCC, Cork and after completing my Law degree in Ireland
I moved back to London.
“I thought I was moving here temporarily but I got involved in politics
and the trade union movement and here we are 40 years later.”
Moher maintains that while this period was an uneasy time for Brent, the
borough has recovered to become stronger than ever.
He said: “Brent has always been a great place.
“Race was becoming for the first time a real public issue.
“But Brent came through all that and is now one of the most harmonious
communities in Britain.”
Stepping On White Corns is available at all good bookshops and from
JGM Books, Publishing House, 51 Medway Gardens, Wembley, Middlesex. HAO
2RJ. |
