A prominent campaigner on behalf of children abused in State institutions has said the establishment of a group to support members of religious orders who worked in such places is "deeply hurtful".
Ms Christine Buckley, a former resident of the Goldenbridge orphanage in Dublin, was responding to a campaign by the group LOVE, which has claimed that a "witch-hunt" is being conducted against religious orders.
Established by Ms Florence Horsman-Hogan, LOVE claims to have 80 lay members. Ms Horsman claims in today's Irish Timesthat people are making spurious allegations in the hope of winning large compensation settlements.
Ms Buckley told ireland.comthe LOVE campaign was deeply hurtful to those who had been abused in institutions. "The majority of us did not get an ounce of love," she said."It shows they have absolutely no idea of the pain we endured."
Ms Buckley said she believed the fact that LOVE claims to have just 80 members was indicative of the level of support it had. She said 155,000 children had passed through State institutions.
"If there were 80 children who suffered bad experiences, then it's enough to justify an inquiry. No child in care should have suffered bad experiences." Ms Buckley said she believed the LOVE campaign was being driven by "a small number of religious".
Responding to a statement issued by the Christian Brothers at the weekend which stated they "do not accept the now established perception" that there was widespread, systematic, sexual abuse in their organisations, Ms Buckley said:
"If they do not accept it, why did they take out an ad in every single newspaper some years ago expressing their sorrow for the hurt caused to victims of abuse?"
A statement issued by Ms Buckley claimed "the majority" of victims in institutions endured "appalling abuse".
"It was for this reason that the Taoiseach apologised, that the Laffoy Commission was established in Ireland and that similar investigations found abuse in similar institutions run by Irish religious around the world.
"It is sad that the Christian Brothers are persistently failing to address the pain caused to victims in their institutions and the pain caused by their efforts to delay the investigation into the truth. Their approach to the problem over the last few weeks underlines the urgency of ensuring that a full public enquiry is held to disclose the extent of the abuse."
Also writing in today's Irish Times, Ms Mary Raftery, who produced RTÉ's States of Feardocumentary on abuse in institutions, says the Christian Brothers' statement "flies in the face of the public contrition expressed by the congregation over the past five years".