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Shamed by the savage abuse at Glin
THIS Tuesday night, not before time, Taoiseach Brian Cowen called on the religious orders involved in the scandal so graphically detailed in the the report of the Ryan commission into child abuse to pay more compensation to the victims.
Few if any in Limerick will disagree with that, for there is no question but that thousands of local children suffered varying forms of abuse, in particular those unfortunate enough to be sent to the notorious Glin Industrial School.
Many of those who attended Christian Brothers schools in this region as recently as the 1980s well remember the beatings routinely doled out by bullies wielding sticks, leathers and their fists.
That was bad – in some cases it was truly appalling – but the awful fate suffered by many of the boys who were sent to Glin was more traumatic and shameful.
They say the camera never lies, but the group photograph we publish this week of children from the Glin school is a lie. Taken in the mid 1950s, it shows the vast majority of the boys smiling hard for the camera, clearly under instructions from the photographer or some other unseen presence.
It is, on the surface, a happy picture – because that was the impression the Christian Brothers who ran the place wanted to present to the outside world. The reality was starkly different, as Norma Prendiville's powerful interview on the page opposite with Tom Wall makes clear.
In the group picture, Tom is one of the few boys not smiling. In fact, he is crying. Those who orchestrated this sham of a picture would not have appreciated that. Deep in the background, four of the brothers are standing to attention beside a gleaming motor car.
We do not know if these men were among those who abused the children under their care. It is clear from the Ryan report that some were worse than others, but it is also clear that Glin was the kind of school where Christian Brothers given to extreme violence and sexual abuse were dispatched by those who ran the order.
As a society, we largely turned a blind eye to this grotesque behaviour and many victims went to their graves without anybody saying so much as sorry, let alone compensating them financially.
The relectance of different religious orders to reopen the compensation and indemnity agreement made back with the Government back in 2002 was a disgrace that public outrage will surely see reversed. Their financial contribution was grossly inadequate, their reluctance to increase it evidence of a mindset that does them no credit whatsoever.
Not everything in the monumental Ryan report makes for harrowing reading. It details, in a section referred to as "Blake case", the story of a young Limerick city boy called Gerard Fogarty who suffered awful abuse in Glin. After being lashed at least 20 times by a whip while stripped naked, Gerard escaped and walked the 32 miles back to his home in the city.
As we recount this week, his case was taken up by a local councillor, Martin McGuire. This remarkably dogged Limerick businessman fought tenaciously on Gerard Fogarty's behalf and petitioned the Minister of Education of the day for answers.
As far back as 1946, Martin McGuire was calling for a Tribunal into the abuses at Ireland's industrial schools. He was patronised and treated with contempt by the Minister and his civil service lackeys.
As we approach the week of the local elections, it is inspiring to read of this man's efforts to seek justice for a Limerick boy so brutally treated and retribution for those who tormented him.
The lengthy correspondence documented in the Ryan report reveals a local public representative of the highest quality. We are fortunate that so many candidates are before the public for election next week and if those elected can bring with them some of the integrity and determination that Martin McGuire demonstrated all those years ago, Limerick will be all the better for it.
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Weather for Limerick
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
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