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Raw anger as Dublin rises up to support victims of clerical abuse

Thursday, 11 June 2009

A silent demonstration in memory of victims of clerical abuse in church-run institutions makes its way through Dublin to the Dail yesterday

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The centre of Dublin was silenced yesterday by 5,000 people marching on the heart of Ireland’s government in the name of all those abused in church-run institutions over 60 years.

The huge, extraordinary and raw demonstration of suffering and anger, came just weeks after the Ryan Commission catalogued the horror of what took place.

Yesterday, under the emotive banner ‘Cherishing all of the children of the nation equally’ — taken from the 1916 Proclamation — the throngs marched to the gates of the Dail at Leinster House.

The march was led by |familiar faces of the victims’campaign in the Republic, among them spokespersons Christine Buckley and Michael O’Brien, and was attended by many more who thanked the most vocal among them for giving them a voice.

Ms Buckley was supported every step of the way by her son Conor, who squeezed his mother’s hand and hugged and kissed her in support as they walked.

Shaking with emotion, she said after she never thought the day would come.

“I wish we had 365 days like this,” said the former resident of Dublin’s Goldenbridge orphanage. “We have tried and tried to say what happened to 165,000 children in 216 hellholes.”

Representing Archbishop |Diarmuid Martin was Monsignor Mike Callan and Phil Garland, the child protection officer for the diocese. Speaking later, the Archbishop said it was a day of “rising up”.

When they arrived at Leinster House, the crowds expressed fury Fine Gael had forced the cancellation of a debate on the report in favour of the entire afternoon devoted to a post-election motion of no confidence in the government.

The survivors laid children’s shoes at the gates the Dail in a symbol of their lost innocence, as well as floral wreaths — a white one for survivors and a black one for those who died in instituional care.

They wanted, too, to hand Taosieach Brian Cowen a copy of a petition given to Christian Brother Kevin Mullan and Sr O’Connor, now head of the Conference of Religious of Ireland, but the plan was abandoned amid security concerns.

Among the gathering of abuse survivors, their families and their supporters, there was a palpable sense the politicians were simply not listening. “We’re really p****d off,” said Paddy Doyle, author of The God Squad, his searing 1989 personal account of how he spent years being abused.

“We met the government just weeks ago and it was all tea and sympathy. Now we know they were never listening,” he said.

In the warm lunchtime sunshine, office workers and passing tourists stopped and listened to some now notorious names being read out along with sickening accounts of abuse that took place there: Letterfrack, Artane, the O’Brien Institute, St Vincent’s, Limerick and Goldenbridge.

The victims included Marie Therese O’Loughlin, who attended Goldenbridge, run by the Sisters of Mercy. She said she was forced to make rosary beads in what she called the ‘Goldenbridge factory’.

She demanded to speak and was handed the microphone. “There are lots of people like me,” she told the crowd. “We want justice” she cried to loud cheers.

As 216 black and white balloons marking the number of institutions were released into the air, many protesters made the short walk to the front of Leinster House and tied white ribbons, children’s shoes and teddy bears to the gates.

It was all they could do after a day in which TDs had turned their backs on debating the scandal.

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27 Comments

Mickey,

You are right for once. Frenchmen owe their first allegiance to France, Germans to Germany, Swedes to Sweden, Irish to.....
But why waste my energy. By the way, my ancestry is English.
Now back to your (Irish) drum practice.

Posted by Patrick | 15.06.09, 13:03 GMT

McD

Think about it .......... bingo !!
That's right, because they don't have any !!
Church doors are open to come and go as people see fit.

Still with me McD -not to mention the very confused mi'ck-ey (fame at last Mickey!!).

Neither The Christian Bros etc nor the Bishops are the Church - the people are. Consequently the Church will live on, as it has for 2,000 years.

Posted by Patrick | 15.06.09, 12:36 GMT

Patrick "back to banging your Lambeg drum (which is Irish by the way)"

Oh dear.

Anyway, it is indeed 'Irish', banged by Irishmen most of whom favour the Union. Go figure. Probably not 'proper' Irishmen tho, eh Patrick?

Posted by mi-ck-ey | 15.06.09, 11:25 GMT

Patrick, how could they have done exactly?

Posted by McD | 15.06.09, 10:13 GMT

Soarer,
If that's the best you can come up with in reply, go back to banging your Lambeg drum (which is Irish by the way) and makes about the same noise.

Posted by Patrick | 15.06.09, 07:41 GMT

Dublin should be proud. All those years and all that abuse. The Priests and those who were cowards and protected them should be forced to do hard labor.

In Los Angeles we have the same problems and issues that you have in Iireland. What a shame.

I once met President kennedy when I was 17 and worked with his brother Senator Robert Kennedy. They would have joined that march in support of your children.

Love to Ireland

Leon

Posted by LFainstadt | 14.06.09, 10:26 GMT

No Patrick they didn't. The were too distracted by the cute and cheeky boys in the choir to bother about all that stuff....

Posted by soarer | 12.06.09, 17:13 GMT

Glorybe 1929, and the rest of the self righteous hysterical :

Calm down. Faults and all the Catholic Church didn't send in the Parachute Regiment, RUC, or B Specials during the Dublin march.

Posted by Patrick | 12.06.09, 14:14 GMT

It's called work mi-ck-ey, I show up 8-10 hours per day 5-6 days a week. They pay me money which I exchange for goods and services and in the current economic climate I'm glad not to have had the free time to attend...

Pat "The Plank" Kenny came in for some deserved criticism, he mooched out to help complain about the government and score a few points forgetting that his motion of no confidence took up the Dail time reserved for this issue instead! He soon scuttled off, tail between his legs.

Posted by Bren | 12.06.09, 09:23 GMT

I march with all of the supporters of the children who have been sexually, physically and mentally, abused by the men & women of the Roman Catholic Church. This torture that has been laid upon these innocents by so called religious is such a Crime Against Humanity by people of God that it is almost too hideous to even contemplate. But then again it is true that this happenend and has been happeing all over the RC World for century after century, millenium after milenium .

Posted by glorybe1929 | 11.06.09, 22:46 GMT

Could it be that the sleeping giant in the room, the Catholic Laity, is finally awakening? I agree with V. Martin's comment, bravo for the Irish! The Church hierarchy cannot exist without the millions of Catholics who support them with donations and services. If only a fraction of them boycotted the Church, you would see very fast corrective action indeed. It's about time the "sheep" of the flock in the rest of the world woke up to their own power and take back their Church.

Posted by D. Bennett | 11.06.09, 20:39 GMT

my god!!!only 5000 protesting this vile conduct by people still living among them. shame on you dublin.let the newspapers publish the names and the institutions for all to see. its just another example of how the irish majority cowtow to "Rome" and the perverts who live under its protection and another example of why the people of the north resist unity. ie. Rome and Republicanism

Posted by billy | 11.06.09, 18:23 GMT

Yes, tragic memories – but lest we lose sight of the offensive and abusive behavior in the homes of Irish families; the rapes and senseless beatings that all have kept very quiet over the years. The abusive conduct of the religious [from ‘both sides of the room] is indicative of a culture of abuse, rape, torture, incarceration, exile, and murder - the ethos of an uncaring English social order!
Séamus

Posted by Seamus O'hEarcain | 11.06.09, 17:44 GMT

No one can be above the LAW. All that violated the law on abuse as well as thoes that cover up abuse crimes MUST have their day in court as well as the public fully informed by the media. The people should cange the members of goverment that are not giving the public truth in these abuse crimes. It time for true seperation of church & state. In the USA, we follow up with CIVIL SUITS for full damages against any that caused the damages through law violations.

Posted by phl | 11.06.09, 16:31 GMT

Congratulations to the marchers in Dublin yesterday, but it still seems that the Irish political parties both North and South are unwilling to take on the Catholic Church. Those criminals hiding in the religious orders must be handed over to the Gardai for prosecution, but the effrontery of the Catholic Church in Ireland knows no bounds. They are not contrite in this matter, except looking for ways to evade their responsibility in this matter, and still feel that they are a semi-quasi government of Ireland. Roll on the day when there is a complete separation of Church and State in Ireland.

I urge all Catholics North and South to never never give up the fight to expose the names of these criminals and get eventual prosecution of these criminals who are hiding behind religious institutions and horror of horror protected by the Catholic Church.

Posted by Patrick Murphy | 11.06.09, 15:55 GMT

mi-ck-ey.....approx 10,000 turned out in Belfast to demonstrate about the recent killings of 2 soldiers and constable carroll..surely it is an outrage only this fraction of the population turned out.
Now do you see how silly you are.....

Posted by Sol | 11.06.09, 15:19 GMT

Survivors of abuse in the Catholic church in the USA are grateful for the courage of the survivors in Ireland to speak up and to expose the truth. You provide inspiration to all of us! Thank you!
I am a member of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a network of and for survivors with over 9,000 members. SNAPnetwork.org Please don't hesitate to visit our website and to join with us. You stand as a beacon of hope to many more than you realize!
Gratefully,
Barbara Blaine

Posted by Barbara Blaine | 11.06.09, 15:00 GMT

With the church not giving up the names of these abusers ,parents should withdraw their children from all activitys organised by the church and not take the risk of further abuse to children

Posted by ron54 | 11.06.09, 14:42 GMT

Mickey

'Well done those 5000. But what's the population of Dublin (or the ROI for that matter?). Only 5000 turned out over this outrage?.

posted by Mickey

Even by your morally dubious standards this is an atricious and pointless low blow. To use such a tragic and sensitive subject to have a pop at the people of this country is just plain sad....really very sad!

Posted by mark | 11.06.09, 13:53 GMT