IRELAND: AN ENTIRE NATION IN DENIAL
With reference to Dr. Cyril Daly's article of June 21, 2009 - posted on this site on June 23, 2009: There is no question that credit must be given where it is due regarding the abolition of corporal punishment in schools in Ireland in 1982, and this he does generously for himself in his article.
It is, however, entirely disingenuous to do so on June 21, one full month after the publication of the Ryan Report in Dublin, http://www.childabusecommission.com/rpt/ExecSummary.php (Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse). This report, which covered over 40 years of known cases of abuse, took 10 years to produce. Yet on the day of its release, the victims were denied access to the press room, in full view of the world news cameras. You would imagine that the whole country would come to a stand-still and demand answers, but this did not happen, despite the many marches and protests by the victims. The link above to the 30-page-Summary (the Report was nearly 2500 pages long) was not made available at first, and then online only.
"The Gentleman doth protest too much, methinks...."
Exactly 6 months later (26 November, 2009) another document was released, the Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, known as the Murphy Report (750 pages). For 190 days, little or nothing changed, and now we were told out precisely how the Church covered up everything, with the tacit cooperation of the State. In the ensuing weeks, the Bishops kicked and screamed their innocence, The fact that the Dublin Archbishop tackled the problem is no credit at all, as something had to give now. And all the while, the Cardinals, the Papal Nuncio and the Pope himself remained silent. Some bishops were forced to resign eventually, some on Christmas Eve, in front of packed congregations.
Prior to Ryan, the Ferns Report had already earned the title for that diocese of "the worst in the Catholic Church"; and now we have Murphy. It is also safe to say that this is still only the tip of an iceberg.
There is no summary to the Murphy Report, but the following 3 short links will give a good idea:
We are already in breach of the agreement we made in Europe with the Convention of the Rights of the Child. We must conduct a referendum in order to change our Constitution, yet the law makers oppose every step taken to facilitate this. In many instances, the Irish family is the most dangerous place for the child. We have achieved some Peace-in-the-Land, and have offset national bankruptcy. Confronting violence toward children in the home (i.e., outside the schools) and amending our Constitution should become the prime focus and targets of our efforts now.
"A Nation in Denial"? That's the understatement of the century. It should be: "A Nation that is Morally Bankrupt."
Raymond Lambert
READ MORE:
Murphy Report (Commission of Investigation - Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, July 2009)
Raymond Lambert's response of February 1, 2010 to Dr. Cyril Daly's "IRELAND: We forced Christian behaviour into Catholic schools" of June 21, 2009
Dublin, Ireland, 4 January 2010Part One: http://www.irishtimes.com/focus/2009/diocese/1234.pdf
Part Two: http://www.irishtimes.com/focus/2009/diocese/5678.pdf
Report of the Commission to
Inquire into Child Abuse, 2009 -
Implementation Plan
http://www.omc.gov.ie/documents/publications/Implementation_Plan_from_Ryan_Commission_Report.pdf
Ryan Report (Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse)
http://www.childabusecommission.com/rpt/pdfs/
The Ferns Report http://www.bishop-accountability.org/ferns/
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