Madam, – Most recognise the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin as one of the more progressive religious leaders in the country. As an act of good faith, would he now consider donating some of the substantial lands in Drumcondra where he lives, in order to build a State memorial park to the victims of child abuse? – Yours, etc,
AIDAN O’SULLIVAN,
Longboat Quay North,
Dublin 2.
Madam, – In 1945 towards the end of the second World War the world at large became aware of the horrors inflicted on humanity at the hands of fascism and German Nazism and the world vowed “never again”.
For 30 years or so after that the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland continued to torture, enslave and defile the children of this country – in whose care they were entrusted. And the reign of terror and brutality they administered was on a par with the worst of the Nazi camp guards.
In response to the Ryan report and as a matter of delayed justice for the innocents who have suffered at the hands of these monsters, I suggest the following action by Government: that diplomatic relations with the Vatican is severed and the Papal Nuncio is expelled from the country; and that this position holds until such time as the Pope makes a public apology to the abused children and people of Ireland; and also that the Vatican donates at least a €1 billion towards compensation for the victims of the abuse. – Yours, etc,
DES HUGHES,
St Donagh’s Crescent,
Donaghmede,
Dublin 13.
Madam, – What is so wrong with us as a nation that not only have we developed one of the most corrupt political, legal and business systems in Europe but now we get to read the heart-breaking details of the most perverted, sadistic and cruel religious system too?
It is not just the religious orders who ought to be deeply ashamed of what they did. It is also the legal profession who sent children to these torture chambers; it is the gardaí who never believed children who were brave enough to seek help; the neighbours who reported parents in the first place; as well as the politicians who abdicated their responsibility. There is no sector of Irish society which comes out of this sorry tale with any credit and we all owe a very humble apology to the survivors.
Of course the agreement with the church can be voided and if the church doesn’t like it then let it sue. Then we’d know for sure that it hasn’t changed and is still run by the very people who worked so hard to cover up these abuses and protect the abusers.
The only way to tackle this rot at the heart of Irish society is for full honesty. This means both the State and the church releasing all files about all the children held in these institutions with no limits or caveats. If a country like South Africa can arrange a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for what happened in that country then it cannot be beyond the wit of even our political class to do the same.
The obsession with secrecy has to stop and it is only then that as a nation we can rebuild the moral fibre we have destroyed since 1922.
The only legal challenges in Ireland were from the church and State fighting the victims to keep the evidence of their abuse secret. Just for once Brian Cowen could do something decent and honest and order all State files to be released and put it up to the church to do the same. Then he could void the agreement with the church and dare the church to sue.
As a minimum the criminal records of the survivors should be expunged. – Yours, etc,
DESMOND FITZGERALD,
Canary Wharf,
London.
Madam, – “It takes an extraordinary perversity of nature to thwart the instinctive drive to nurture and care for the young” (Patsy McGarry, Analysis, May 21st). Very true, but religion will do it. From a philosophy that holds that the corporal body is of no account and must be mortified, to superstitions about left-handedness, stammering or any other form of diversity being deviant and the work of the devil, there was more than enough to enable normal human decency to be well and truly buried, especially in an institutional setting.
Nobel Prize winner Steven Weinberg said it best: “With or without it [religion] you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion”.
There is a clear line of descent from the archaic beliefs that allowed the abuse to happen so comprehensively to the thinking today that underpins Ireland’s deplorable approach to abortion and stem cell research legislation. It is high time we properly separated church and state. – Yours, etc,
SEAMUS McKENNA,
Farrenboley Park,
Windy Arbour,
Dundrum,
Dublin 14.
Madam, – From the age of seven (1930) to 17 (1940) I was a boarder in a Christian Brothers-run Dublin orphanage after the death of my father in 1930. My mother died in 1938, having been left in poor circumstances after the death of my father.
During the years I was a boarder I was not abused in any way by the Christian Brothers and knew of no abuse of the approximately 100 other boarders.
I was given free board and lodgings; a good education to Leaving Cert standard. Facilities were made available for all who wished to avail of them to engage in Gaelic football and hurling; handball, outdoor parallel bars; outdoor tennis during summer months; table-tennis for indoor amusement, and every effort was made to occupy us during summer holidays (for those without a home to go to) including occasional day excursions in CIÉ buses to places of interest within reasonable distance of Dublin. As anyone will tell you, looking after 100 lively boys required discipline but, in my experience, any discipline (eg slaps with a leather) was administered without excessive severity. I speak from personal experience.
The education given so generously was first class and some Brothers gave special classes in their own free time to bright children to help them sit for scholarships.
When schooldays were over, the Brothers worked might-and-main to secure employment for school leavers. They even provided a hostel in the grounds of the orphanage where low-paid ex-boarders were accommodated until they found their feet.
I will always be grateful to them for the help they gave me and my brother at an extremely difficult time, and the peace of mind they gave my mother in the last few years of her life. So please don’t tar all these fine men with the same brush. – Yours, etc,
DONAL KAVANAGH,
Dublin 12.
Madam – As we react in shame to the report into child abuse, let us not fool ourselves into thinking that such abuse of children is in the past. We live in a global village in every sense. To the millions of children suffering abuse today, there is still a culture of silence.
Worldwide approximately 158 million children under 15 are trapped in child labour – the ball your child plays with; the tights you pull on in the morning or the soft carpets under your feet, may have been made by children as young as six years old. I have seen children this young working in factories.
Today is International Missing Children’s Day. Let us, on this day, remember the millions of children who are missing in many different contexts; missing because they are unaccounted for (no birth certificate) – there is no recognition of them ever having been born or living on this earth. As a result these children, many abandoned on the streets and in the slums of big cities, are deprived of a childhood.
They are missing the basics that we take for granted – missing a safe home; missing the love of a family; missing food; missing an education; and just like the thousands who suffered such brutal abuse in Ireland, these children are today suffering harrowing abuse. Their health is broken from hazardous and dangerous work and they are alone in the world.
Today remember the 250,000 children on the streets of Kolkata (Calcutta). Despite the hard economic times we have in Ireland now, every child in this world has a right to food, to loving care, to shelter and to an education. Let the shame of Ireland’s past move us to reach out to children who are suffering today and take whatever action we can against all forms of child abuse. There is no excuse when we know. – Yours, etc,
MAUREEN FORREST,
Hon. Director,
The Hope Foundation,
Clover Lawn,
Skehard Road,
Blackrock, Cork.
Madam, – While the Ryan report makes for shocking and painful reading, little attention is being – or has been – given to the actual level of child sexual abuse in Irish society in general.
Those working as counsellors in the field of sexual abuse are aware that one in three of all child sexual abusers in our society is a male adolescent under the age of 18, that in almost 50 per cent of cases of abuse, a family member or someone close to the family is the perpetrator. Very few of these cases have been reported to the authorities – and many probably never will be.
Apart from the unfortunate people who were so disgracefully abused in church or State institutions over many years, there is a significant percentage of the population who have chosen instead to suffer — and to remain — in silence. The One in Four group in Ireland, by its very title, must be well aware of this. – Yours, etc,
LOUIS POWER,
Loughlinstown,
Co Dublin.
Madam, – The Ryan report findings are comparable to the discovery of the concentration camps in Germany at the end of the war.
However, among German people there was a great sense of national guilt about what had occurred in their midst. In Ireland there is no such guilt being felt. It seems easier to just blame the church, who undoubtedly deserve much of, but not all of, the blame. The institutions which the report dealt with existed to secret away from society that which was deemed morally or socially unacceptable. Once hidden there was little concern for the rights of these children.
It is critical to remember that this was a view widely held by the population, some of whom treated these children as little more than slaves. These institutions existed as a result of a morality espoused by both the people and the church, endorsed fully by the State and executed by religious orders. If we do not accept this truth as a people we cannot move on, and move on we must.
Still today, this country is over-zealous in its willingness to deny the existence of that which it finds unpalatable and deny rights to those whom it find morally or socially unacceptable. I’m thinking of women not given the freedom to choose what to do when they have an unwanted pregnancy, even when raped by an uncle. It’s still reasonable to deny the right to choose because we find it morally unacceptable, while we know that more than 10,000 women a year travel for abortions in the UK. We as a people also appear happy to condemn gays and lesbians to lives as second-class citizens. There is no concern that they cannot marry or walk the street safely in places. We will not place the rights of the child in our Constitution. Our racism and willingness to be prejudiced toward foreign nationals has been exposed as times toughen. All this we do, because we find these things unpalatable. Where is our humanity? Where has it been? When will we start to see human rights for what they are, human rights and not a gift from us to those we deem suitable.
Let me say I’m sorry to these people. I feel guilt for what happened them and continues to happen others. – Yours, etc,
FABIAN Mc GRATH,
Dublin 7.
Madam, – As our politicians contemplate the issue, surely there is nothing more blasphemous than the abuse of children by those very institutions and individuals entrusted with their care? – Yours, etc,
Dr TONY MARGIOTTA,
Fairyhouse Lodge,
Ratoath, Co Meath.
Madam, – If the religious cult which abused, tortured, starved, raped, buggered and killed so many of this nation’s children was called anything other than the Catholic Church, it would be disbanded, outlawed and their members jailed.
Some people are saying that it was not the whole church, so they cannot be blamed. But it was the whole church: they all knew to some degree what was going on, along with the State.
This “cult” should be banned from all dealings with children. Any sub-cult (or order) that has been named by the commission, should be outlawed and its lands and goods used to try to compensate the victims. The Cab should be brought in to investigate, as profit was made by the cult from the work of the children. Membership of the cult should be made a criminal offence.
People should be on the streets demonstrating their disgust to the Catholic demi-gods hiding in the palaces, waiting for the fuss to die down. We can only believe they won’t do it again if they are not allowed to be in a position to do so. – Yours, etc,
ALAN BROWNE,
Woodlands Park,
Ratoath, Co Meath.
Madam, – Could we now please put an end to calling on the Conference of Religious in Ireland (Cori) for comment on moral and social policy matters, particularly in relation to disbursement of funds by the State? It is a totally discredited organisation whose refusal to contribute a proportionate amount towards victim compensation reflects its true stance on the horrors of the abuse committed by those it represents: ie, denial and self interest. – Yours, etc,
AILBHE M MURRAY,
Cabinteely, Dublin 18.
