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CULTURE SHOCK:A FORTNIGHT AGO, the Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe announced the formation of a committee to consider what is surely the most difficult public art commission in the history of the State. The Ryan report into institutional child abuse recommended, among other things, the erection of “a memorial to the victims as a permanent public acknowledgement of their experiences”, writes FINTAN O’TOOLE

 Beyond suggesting that it contain the key words of the Taoiseach’s public apology, issued in 1999, the commission, reasonably enough, did not go into detail. It will thus be up to the new committee to consult with survivors, work out the appropriate form of the memorial and “oversee the commissioning and delivery by the Office for Public Works (through competition) of the design and building of the memorial”.