PRESIDENT MARY McAleese has praised those who showed courage in “taking on the monoliths and vested interests and the culture of silence, which rendered children outrageously vulnerable to abuse”.
Speaking at a national roundtable organised by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency in NUI Maynooth yesterday, she said the abuse was carried out, not just by those in authority, but by those “claiming to be exemplars of the Christian life”.
The Ryan and Dublin diocesan reports had revealed “shocking abuses of the human rights of children, shocking disrespect for the law of our land and systemic institutional failures within bodies that were highly influential, powerful and important in Irish society”, she said.
She added that such abuse was not peculiar to Ireland or to the Catholic Church, but was a danger wherever there was easy and unmonitored access to children by figures who drew deference to themselves by virtue of their role.
In her address, she also praised the agency for its work on homophobia. Referring to the “utter isolation” experienced by many homosexual men, women and teenagers, she said this was a particular concern for young people when they made their discovery about being gay. “It is a discovery, not a decision,” she said.
Anastasia Crickley, Irish representative on the agency and its founding chairwoman, said: “At this particular time, when the economic situation is raising fears regarding increased discrimination against migrants and minorities, it is essential that the European Union keeps a firm focus on ending discrimination.
“Governments, including our own, need to protect the resources and programmes which empower the marginalised to participate in realising their own rights and contributing to the future.”
Morten Kjaerum, agency director, told the meeting that its role was to offer evidence-based advice on human rights to EU institutions and to member states. To this end it carried out surveys about human rights abuses, which informed EU law.
He said that prior to the publication of its report on homophobia in the EU, many member states questioned the need for legislation outlawing discrimination against homosexuals. That questioning then ceased, though other objections were raised, he said.