Sir, – Reviews of RTÉ’s powerful recent documentary Redress: Breaking the Silence have rightly emphasised the immense bravery of the survivors who came forward to speak about their terrible experiences of institutional abuse.
The news agenda is now necessarily dominated by the coronavirus crisis and continuing political fall-out from the inconclusive general election, so it is important that the programme’s central message is not missed. Survivors of abuse were failed over decades by both church and State in their quest for justice.
Ongoing issues remain, even 21 years after Mary Raftery’s original States of Fear documentary, including the impact upon survivors of adversarial treatment in the redress scheme structures, the fact that few perpetrators were directly held accountable, and concerns about the implications of the retention of records legislation.
We must learn from the testimonies of survivors in ensuring that justice is done in addressing these issues. – Yours, etc,
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IVANA BACIK,
Seanad Éireann,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – As a former industrial school inmate, initially in St Patrick's, Kilkenny, and then latterly in Artane in Dublin (1940-1953), I agree entirely with the sentiments expressed in your news story "Redress decision 'a mistake', says Micheál Martin" (March 3rd).
As I watched the RTÉ documentary, with a great deal of pain, I must admit, I was taken back all those years and concluded that, between my initial incarceration and the decision in 2002 to indemnify the religious orders, that nothing had changed in the interval. The State was still in thrall to the religious institutions, and still kowtowed to them. It was the religious “orders” (an apt name) that ran the country. Thankfully, that has changed.
Yes, I received compensation (with the usual gagging orders) but by then I was retired and in poor health, too late to enjoy the good things in life that I, as a citizen, was entitled to, but due to my incarceration and neglect, educational and otherwise, could not avail of. It took many years of self-education to acquire the ability to write a letter such as this. – Yours, etc,
PETER PALLAS,
Bantry, Co Cork.