Rate-Your-Solicitor.com Forum

See above.............correction = repetitious.
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Tanaiste, Minister for Justice,
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Mr. Michael McDowell must be seriously challenged to erase records of victims/survivors of institutional abuse whom the Irish state still labels as criminals. Children sent into Irelands Industrial Schools between 1922 - 1973 were taken under the 1908 & 1922 Children Act. These Acts allowed the state to ALLEGE IMPROPER GUARDIANSHIP & grant gardai power to seize children, for instance from failing marriages etc. Children were then prosecuted through the courts......... No "solicitors" were personally made available to the respective children, what a chilling scenario indeed! The latter were subsequently incarcerated in religious-run institutions. The Judiciary of the past ought to have been absolutely ashamed of itself.
It now behoves the newly created Tanaiste {PD King of Politics & Justice} to right the wrong that was visited upon thousands of innocent victims. The operative word being:....................................... EXPUNGE;....................EXPUNGE;.........................EXPUNGE......."Fortuna Favet Fortibus".
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*It is worth noting that the 1908 Act was not finally repealed until the introduction of The Child Care Act, 1991.
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Seanad Debate. {Ferns Report}
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Nov, 15th, 2005
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Mr Bannon.
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We have had the revelations of the horrors of the Magdalen laundries, Letterfrack industrial school, Goldenbridge, Artane, St. Joseph’s, Ferryhouse, St. Joseph’s, Summerhill and Daingean reformatory. The Kennedy report, which has been described as “one of the most damning indictments of the operation of any State system ever produced in this country”, the Laffoy commission and the Ferns Report, which is not reading for the sensitive, as Senator Feeney stated, provide a record of appalling betrayal and abuse of innocent trusting children, on a scale beyond comprehension. The inquiry into the Dublin archdiocese is pending and will more than likely be equally horrific. I do not wish to pre-empt its content but media and other reports indicate a great deal remains to be unearthed in this diocese.

I used the words, “State system”, when referring to the findings of the Kennedy report on industrial schools, which eventually led to the closure of these institutions, as it demonstrated the recognised collusion between the State and the Catholic Church and highlighted the ultimate responsibility which rested with the State. These institutions may have been run by the religious orders, but they did so on behalf of the State, which had ultimate control and whose head in the sand approach to the lives of young children reflects badly on us all. The collective guilt involves a number of Departments, health boards, political institutions and the Garda.

Thousands of wonderful nuns and priests work on behalf of society in Ireland and throughout the world with many engaged in charitable work. Like other speakers, I wish to acknowledge their immense work. I had three uncles who were priests and they worked both on the missions and here at home. I am aware of the effort they put into serving communities not alone here but also in foreign fields. I am also aware of the hardships they encountered as a result of their work. A few years ago when one of my uncles returned for a holiday, he attended a Dublin hospital for a check-up and died there. He never lived to enjoy a period of retirement, but passed away while still engaged in his mainstream pastoral activity. For almost his entire life he worked his heart out for the betterment of society in Ethiopia and Kenya.

The special relationship between church and State has not served the country, its citizens or the victims of abuse. If he were alive today, it would be interesting to hear the views on this issue of the former Minister for Health, Dr. Noel Browne, who served in the Lower House for many years. We know how Dr. Browne was victimised in a previous Government because of his views and what he was trying to do to improve so much.
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COMMENT: 1
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IN ITS TOTALITY I AM UNUTTERABLY IN AGREEANCE THAT THERE WERE/ARE GOOD NUNS AND PRIESTS ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE WORLD AND ON THIS ISLAND OF IRELAND WHO WERE/ARE OPERATIONAL AND WORKING IMMEASURABLY HARD ON BEHALF OF IRISH SOCIETY AND WERE/ARE COMMENDABLE OF RECOGNITION…

I DO ALSO HAVE THE SAME OPINION THAT THE STATE HAD ITS HEAD ENGROSSED PROFOUNDLY IN THE SAND WITH LOOK UPON IN THEIR ULTIMATE ACCOUNTABILITY OF SUSCEPTIBLE CHILDREN. YES, YES, YES ALL THE PERTINENT GOVERNMENT DEPTS TOO, ARE ALSO COOPERATIVELY RESPONSIBLE.

IN ADDITION, WHAT I INDIVIDUALLY DO NOT APPRECIATE IS; WHY DID THE JUDICIARY RECURRENTLY SEND CHILDREN INTO THESE SWARMING INSTITUTIONS WHEN THERE WAS NO ONE TO LOOK AFTER THEM? HOW ON EARTHS NAME DID THE JUDICIARY/STATE DIRECT TO PILE AT ANY GIVEN TIME APPROXIMATELY 200 CHILDREN, AS WAS THE CASE WITH GOLDENBRIDGE, {A GOOD PERCENTAGE OF THEM, TODDLERS, ONTO TWO NUNS? THESE TWO NUNS I SHOULD ADD - WERE EXPLICITLY TRAINED{CARYSFORT COLLEGE} IN SCHOOL TEACHING ONLY. THEY HAD WHATSOEVER, NO CHILDCARE TRAINING. SO IT BEGS THE QUESTION AS TO WHY VULNERABLE CHILDREN WERE PERCEIVED TO BE GOING INTO A MORE PROTECTIVE ENVIRONMENT THAN THAT OF THEIR BIOLOGICAL PARENT/PARENTS WHOM THE LATTER WERE CLASSED AS EITHER UNFIT OR WERE NEGLECTING THEM, ETC, ETC.
IN ESSENCE, THE JUDICIARY DEEMED TWO NUNS MORE CAPABLE THAN THE HUNDREDS OF PARENT/PARENTS FROM WHOM THE TRAUMATISED CHILDREN WERE SWIPED AWAY! It was afterall the collective responsibility of those dishing out the sentences and the relevant state departments to see that the institutional settings were appropriate to the needs of the impending prisoner children.
I CAN SAY FROM DELICATE EXPERIENCE} THAT THE NUN IN CHARGE IN GOLDENBRIDGE DURING MY INTERNMENT, WAS OVER-WORKED, AND AS A CONSEQUENCE WAS REPELLENTLY STRESSED OUT. CHILDREN, MODERATELY AS WAS EXPECTED, THEN BECAME THE RECIPIENTS OF HER INDIGNATION. SHE WAS PERCEPTIBLY UNACQUAINTED WITH THIS FEARFUL PORTRAYAL THAT WAS OOZING OUT OF EVERY FILAMENT OF HER BEING. THE RESULTANT THEREFORE WAS THAT............................CHILDREN CAME TO DERIDE HER BECAUSE OF HER CHILLINGLY STARTLING PERFORMANCE.........................................................................EVEN WITH HER SHEER PRESENCE SHE WAS TANTAMOUNT WITH FEAR ITSELF.

IT WAS/IS A SAD DENUNCIATION INDEED. AS CHILDREN FROM BIRTH WERE/ARE BORN TO BE CHERISHED/LOVED BY THEIR CAREGIVERS. HOW COULD TWO NUNS AND A SMALL NUMBER OF UNTRAINED/INSTITUTIONALISED STAFF LOVE 200 BABIES/TODDLERS/CHILDREN WHO WERE EITHER INWARDLY/OUTWARDLY CRYING/PINING EMOTIONALLY/IMPOVERISHED AND ALREADY NEGLECTED/STARVED OF PARENTAL CARE.
IT WAS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK......................................................................Marie-Therese O' Loughlin
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COMMENT:2
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EMPATHY IS WHAT VICTIMS/SURVIVORS NEED, "BUSINESS" WILL EVIDENTLY FLOURISH WHERE IT PREVAILS..............TRY IT!
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I say shame on any Solicitor/Barrister Junior/Senior counsel, Judge, of today - who remind victims/survivors of institutional abuse that the privileged position that they hold is merely 'a business'.......................................................................................................  IT IS NOT!
BUT IT MOST DEFINITELY WAS IN THE PAST WHEN 'TOUTING' FOR "BUSINESS" WENT ON WITH THE RELIGIOUS. THE LATTER ACTUALLY CONTACTED THOSE IN POWER TO FIND OUT WHY MORE CHILDREN WERE NOT BEING SENT TO THEM THROUGH THE COURT SYSTEM. They were havng great difficulty maintaining THEIR "PRIVATELY OWNED" buildings AND UNDENIABLY,DESPERATELY NEEDED CHILDREN. WHAT A SHAM!   

I find this "business" terminology insulting to say the least, it is a cop out. The judiciarys' past contemporaries played a crucial role in the unlawful incarceration of thousands of innocents - and by way of this the present legal eagles have inherited the legacy...........

As a victim/survivor OF INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE I ASK THE LATTER: "NOT TO LOOK AWAY AND: NOT TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK"

THOUSANDS OF VICTIMS/SURVIVORS OF THE INDUSTRIAL/REFORMATORY SCHOOLS OF WHOM 14,680 ARE/HAVE GONE BEFORE THE COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE AND THE RESIDENTIAL INSTITUTIONS REDRESS BOARD WERE THE ONES WHO WERE SLAPPED IN THE CHEEK AND REAL HARD AT THAT!...................................................................................................... NOT THE LEGAL PROFESSION!

SUFFICE IT TO REALISTICIALLY SAY, AT THE END OF THE WHOLE CHILDHOOD ABUSE DEBACLE VICTIMS/SURVIVORS WILL NOT BE THE MAIN MONETARY BENEFICIARIES.
THE TRUTH AND THE JUSTIFIABLE JUSTIFICATION OF THE WRONGDOINGS OF THE PAST IS IS ALL THAT VICTIMS/SURVIVORS SEEK TO PUT RIGHT............................................................................................................................... EVEN IF IT IS ONLY TO SOME SMALL DEGREE. 

Out of respect, THE LEARNED LEGAL PROFESSION SHOULD acknowledge THE PAST painful existences'/experiences OF ALL THOSE WHO WERE ILLEGALLY INTERNED. INMATES SHOULD not MERELY BE clients.

SOME LITTLE EXTRA ADDED HUMAN NATURE SHOULD BE EXTENDED TO  ALL THE LEGAL DEALINGS WITH THESE very vulnerable human beings WHO WERE VERY DREADFULLY LET DOWN BY ALL OF IRISH SOCIETY.

A LITTLE BIT OF MOLLYCODDLYING WOULD NOT GO ASTRAY TO THOSE WHO NEVER HAD AN OUNCE OF LOVE WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP.....What is wrong with that ............................................................................................................or, is "BUSINESS" MORE IMPORTANT?

One does not need to be a trained psychiatrist to understand - Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The privileged and sacrosanct profession on a legalistic basis deals with such like on a regular basis. 
So please do not feign ignorance when confronted with VERY COMPLEX traumatised victims/survivors of institutional abuse. Passing the buck will not suffice any longer.

THE VICTIMS/SURVIVORS, AT THE OUTSET OF ONE OF THE LAFFOY COMMISSION PUBLIC MEETINGS, FERVENTLY STOOD BY THEIR OWN SOLICITORS, WHEN IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT THE COMMISSION HAVE ITS OWN TEAM. THIS MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN. IT NOW BEHOVES  SOLICITORS/BARRISTERS TO STAND BEHIND THEM TO THE VERY LAST...............Marie-Therese O' Loughlin.
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Companies (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill, 1999: Referral to Select Committee.
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Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. Treacy): I move:
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That, in accordance with Standing Order 112(1) and paragraph 1(a)(i) of the Orders of Reference of Select Committees, the Bill be referred to the
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Select Committee on Enterprise and Small Business.
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Question put and agreed to.
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Statute of Limitations (Amendment) Bill, 1998: Second Stage (Resumed).
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Question again proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time.
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Ms O'Sullivan:
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I wish to thank the Government for providing time to debate this very important legislation which is a central part of the collective response that must be forthcoming from us, the political community, and the community as a whole, to the horrifying facts with which we have had to come to terms, namely, that our society was based on a sham and that the image we had of ourselves as a people who care for and love children hid so much horrible abuse beneath the surface - an abuse of the most vulnerable of our children.

This is a much worse blow to our concept of ourselves than all the financial scandals that have been unveiled because it is a much more fundamental abuse of power. While the golden circles of power and influence which are the subject of tribunals of inquiry forged their profitable bonds at the centre of Irish society, different circles, circles of cold stone, went unnoticed at the far fringes of the social sphere. If it is important, and it is, to throw light on circles of privilege and self-interest involving politicians, developers, big business and financial institutions, it is more important to throw light on the other extreme of social influence, namely, those with no power.
Imprisoned in those stone circles were hundreds, perhaps thousands of children who were in the so-called care of the State, religious institutions or warped and abusive parents. Windows of light were rare and when they did exist those who looked in did not seem to see what was happening inside. Those diametrically different experiences of life in Ireland in the not so distant past, perhaps even in the present, represent, in their different ways, gross abuse of power. From my perspective, the physical and sexual abuse of helpless children is the most gross and the most deserving of investigation.
Much investigative reporting, many column inches and a great deal of Dáil time have been devoted to questioning the activities of the socially and economically powerful. We want to know what happened, and rightly so. Let us be just as rigorous in pursuing those who wielded power in less prestigious circles but with more destructive results in the lives of individuals. The television series "States of Fear", Susan McKay's book about Sophia McColgan, Paddy Doyle's The God Squad, Annie Ryan's Walls of Silence and the personal testimonies of many brave survivors compel the urge to find retrospective justice or, at the very least, an acknowledgement of the enormity of the harm that was done.
Anyone who has spoken to a survivor of child abuse, particularly sexual abuse, will know how important it is to them to have confirmation from someone outside the circle of abuse that what happened actually took place, that it was wrong and that it was not their fault. There is a compelling need to tell their story so that they can move on and reconstruct their lives. There is also a compelling need to see justice done.For many justice is not available.
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COMMENT:3
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I ALSO WISH TO THANK JAN O' SULLIVAN, LIMERICK LABOUR TD {FOR EDUCATION} FOR RELENTLESSLY TRYING TO PURSUE JUSTICE ON BEHALF OF VICTIMS/SURVIVORS OF INSTITUTUTIONAL ABUSE. JAN IS EXCEPTIONAL. IF PER CHANCE YOU OR YOUR LOOKING IN, {FROM YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE} I WANT TO ALSO THANK YOU FOR BURNING THE 2005 MIDNIGHT CHRISTMAS DAIL CANDLE!

THE ABOVE ARTICLE IS TELLING OF THAT COMPASSIONATE NATURE YOU ARE BLESSED TO HAVE.
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Last edited by Marie-Therese O' loughlin (2006-12-16 06:39:15)

INDEMNITY


THIS DEED made the 5th day of' June Two Thousand and Two

BETWEEN THE MINISTER FOR FINANCE , Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2 and THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SCIENCE, Tyrone House, Marlborough Street, Dublin 2 (hereinafter called "the State party" which expression shall include them and each of them) of the One Part and EACH OF THE PARTIES LISTED IN THE FIRST SCHEDULE (hereinafter together called the "Contributing Congregations") of the Other SCHEDULE (hereinafter together called the "Contributing Congregations") of the Other Part.

WHEREAS: -

A. The State party has established a Statutory Redress Scheme ("the Scheme") under the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 ("the Act") to make financial awards to assist in the recovery of persons who as children were resident in certain institutions and who suffer or who have suffered injuries that are consistent With abuse while so resident.

B . The Contributing Congregations are desirous of joining with the State party -to make a contribution to file Scheme.

C. The Contributing Congregations are prepared to undertake to contribute to a special account to be established pursuant to section 23 of the Act (hereinafter called "the special account")

D. The contribution of the Contributing Congregations will be paid into the special account in the amount and in the manner agreed between the parties on the date of commencement of the said Scheme.

E. This Deed shall not be construed as an admission of liability by either party with regard to any alleged injury suffered by any applicant (within the meaning of the Act).

F. Any payment made under the Scheme shall be without admission of liability or responsibility for any alleged acts of abuse and no liability or responsibility is or will be apportioned between the said parties or any other person arising out of any sums paid from the special account under the said Scheme

C. Where a person as contemplated by Clause 3 above requests that a Contributing Congregation take over responsibility for carriage of any Proceedings, and the said Contributing Congregation refuses to do so, the said Contributing Congregation shall indemnify the State party for 50% of all damages which may be awarded by a court or made by way of settlement and 50% of all costs (including legal costs) and expenses incurred by the State Party in defending any claim by that person against the State party in any proceedings arising from the taking over of responsibility for carriage of the Proceedings.

6. The Contributing Congregations by virtue of these premises, hereby severally covenant with the State Party:

a) To undertake to provide to the State Party details of any existing or future legal claims for compensation covered by the indemnity of which they are aware.

b) To undertake to assist the State Party in the defence of claims which come within the Scheme made in any legal proceedings that are now in being or may be issued in the future provided such claim is in respect of abuse allegedly suffered prior to the date of the introduction of the Scheme.

In relation to the defence of any such claim as contemplated by sub-paragraph (b ) above, the relevant Contributing Congregation will bear its own costs incurred in respect of the retrieval of records in relation to the defence of such claim and in providing any assistance reasonably required by the State party for the purposes of defending, such claim, which assistance, for the avoidance of doubt, shall involve identification of relevant witnesses to the extent known by the relevant Contributing Congregation and liaising with such potential witnesses.

7. The contributions of the Contributing Congregations contemplated by this Indemnity shall comprise and shall take into account the following:

(i) a cash payment to the State party amounting in aggregate to the sum of 41.l4 million, of which 12.7 million shall be used by the State party for educational programmes for former residents of institutions and their families. The sum of 12,654,000 shall be paid to the State party on the execution hereof and the balance of the said sum of 41.14 million by four equal instalments on the 5th of September 2002, the 5th of December 2002, the 5th of February 2003 and the 5 of May 2003;

(ii) transfers of real property which have been made to the State party or State agencies or local authorities or Voluntary Organisations (as defined in Clause 9 below) since 11th May 1999 to the extent that the value of same amounts in aggregate to the sum of 40.32 million. The aggregate value of the particular properties so transferred by the Contributing Congregations is more particularly identified in Part 1 of the SECOND SCHEDULE;

(iii) transfers of real property which are to be made to the State Party (or its nominees(s)) as soon as practicable following the execution hereof to the extent that the value of same amounts to 36.54 million. The aggregate value of the particular properties to be so transferred by the Contributing Congregations is more particularly identified in Part II of the SECOND SCHEDULE. (iv)counselling and other support services for former residents of institutions and their families already provided or to be provided to the extent that the value of same amounts to 10 million.

8 Pursuant to the commitment referred to herein of the Contributing Congregations to transfer cash and/or real property to the State Party in consideration for the Indemnity given by the State Party hereunder, where a Contributing Congregation proposes to transfer a real property asset to the State Party, the State party shall have the right (for a period of nine months from the date hereof) to refuse to accept a transfer to it of any such real property asset where in its reasonable opinion the said asset will be of no use or benefit to the State or any State agency (which refusal and the reason therefor shall be notified to the said Contributing Congregation in writing). In the event of any such refusal, however, the relevant Contributing Congregation shall have the right to replace such real property asset with cash or other real property assets (at its sole discretion). The said right of refusal shall expire nine months from the date hereof. The provisions of this Clause 8 shall apply to a proposed transfer which is in substitution for a transfer which has been refused in the same way as they apply to the original transfer.

9 The valuation of any real property assets which have been, or which it is proposed will be, transferred to the State party or any State agency or local authority or voluntary organisation providing health or social services ("Voluntary Organisation") by a Contributing Congregation as contemplated by this Indemnity shall be determined by agreement of the State party and the said Contributing Congregation in consultation with their respective valuers, and in default of such agreement shall be determined by an independent valuer to be appointed on the application of either the State Party or the said Contributing Congregation by the Chairman for the time being of the Society of Chartered Surveyors. Such independent valuer shall act as an expert and not as an arbitrator, and his determination shall be final and binding on the State party and the said Contributing Congregation and shall be in writing stating the reasons therefor. Prior to such independent valuer making such determination, however, each of the State party and the said Contributing Congregation shall have the right to make written representations to the independent valuer. The costs of the said independent valuer shall be borne equally by the State party and the said Contributing Congregation. The valuation to be determined by the State party and the relevant Contributing Congregation or by the above-mentioned independent valuer (as the case may be) shall be the current open market value of the relevant real property asset as at the date of its transfer to the State party or any State agency or local authority or Voluntary Organisation (as the case may be) in the' case of real property assets transferred prior to the date hereof, and as at the date hereof in the case of all other real property assets. The State party and the relevant Contributing Congregation or the independent valuer (as the case may be), in making such determination, shall have due regard to the current Practice Statements and Guidance Notes contained in the Appraisal and Valuation Manual issued by the Society of Chartered Surveyors.

In any valuation exercise in respect of any real property asset which has been, or which it is proposed will be, transferred to the State Party or any State agency or local authority or Voluntary Organisation by a Contributing Congregation as contemplated by this Indemnity, the valuation shall (pursuant to the protocol in this regard previously agreed between the Department of Education and Science and the diocesan authorities or any other protocols (if any) previously agreed by the State Party or any State agency and the Contributing Congregations or their representatives where applicable) take account of any grants or other payments provided by the State or any State agency to the said Contributing Congregation for the acquisition, development or improvement of the said real property asset.

10. Pursuant to the commitment referred to herein of the Contributing Congregations to provide real property assets to the State Party in consideration for the Indemnity given by the State Party hereunder, if it should transpire that the aggregate value of all real property assets so provided by the Contributing Congregations (their "Real Property Amount") is found to fall short of the aggregate value of all real property assets which they have committed to provide to the State party or any State agency or local authority or Voluntary Organisation as referred to in Parts I and II of the SECOND SCHEDULE (their "Committed Real Property Amount"), then the Contributing Congregations shall be entitled to make up the shortfall in cash and/or non-cash assets (comprising real property) as soon as practicable without prejudice to the continuing efficacy of the said Indemnity but not later than six months from the date such shortfall is ascertained and notified in writing by the State party to the Contributing Congregations. The obligation of the Contributing Congregations to make up the said shortfall shall be a joint obligation, and any apportionments between the Contributing Congregations which become necessary as a consequence of their meeting that obligation shall be a matter for the Contributing Congregations inter se and not the State Party.

Last edited by Marie-Therese O' loughlin (2006-10-03 08:45:15)

The Contributing Congregations

In respect of each Contributing Congregation, the congregational superior/leader of that Contributing Congregation.

A notice shall be deemed to have been served at the time of delivery, if served persona1ly, or 48 hours after posting, if served by prepaid recorded delivery.

Where a Contributing Congregation becomes aware of any claim which could give rise to a matter which lies within the scope of this Indemnity, such Contributing Congregation shall notify the State Party of such claim as soon as practicable after becoming so aware.

Where the State party becomes aware of any claim which could give rise to a matter which lies within the scope of this Indemnity, the State party shall notify the Contributing Congregation the subject of such claim as soon as practicable after becoming so aware (which awareness, for the avoidance of doubt, shall be deemed to constitute notice for the purposes of Clause I above).

IN WITNESS whereof the parties hereto have hereunto set their respective hands and seals the day and year first herein WRITTEN.

FIRST SCHEDULE

List of Contributing Congregations

Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy (South Central Province)

Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy (Northern Province)

Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy (Western Province)

Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy (Southern Province)

Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul

Congregation of Christian Brothers

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd

Congregation of Presentation Brothers

Institute of Charity (Rosminians)

Congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Hospitaller Order of St. John of God

Religious Sisters of Charity

Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge

Congregation of the Sisters of St.Clare

Institute of St. Louis

Union of the Presentation Sisters

Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle)

Dominican Friars' Order of Preachers

Daughters of the Heart of Mary

Congregation of the Brothers of Charity

Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth

SECOND SCHEDULE

Real Property transferred since 11th Mav 1999

Contributing Congregation Property Value 

Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy

Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul

Congregation of Christian Brothers

Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Religious Sisters of Charity

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge

Congregation of the Sisters of St. Clare

Union of the Presentation: Sisters
Total: Euro 40,320,000 


Real Property yet to be transferred

Contributing Congregation Property Value 
Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy

Congregation of Christian Brothers

Institute of Charity (Rosminians )

Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Hospitaller Order of St. John of God

Religious Sisters of Charity

Congregation of the Brothers of Charity

Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth
Total: Euro 36,540,000

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Last edited by Marie-Therese O' loughlin (2006-11-16 11:19:55)

Aged 18 months, Marie Therese O'Loughlin fell into a blazing fire at a Legion of Mary mother-and-baby unit. Now she is seeking compensation under the Residential Institutions Redress Board. Emma Browne reports
For the past eight weeks Marie Therese O'Loughlin has been camped in protest outside Leinster House in Dublin, surviving on only soup and yoghurt. She gained three stone in weight in advance of her protest (which started as a hunger strike); she has already lost two-and-half stone. She is protesting to persuade the Government to allow her to seek compensation under the Residential Institutions Redress Board for injuries she received whilst in the mother and baby unit at the Regina Ceoli Hostel in Dublin in 1952. The unit is not currently on the redress list.

At some point during her second year in the Regina Ceoli hostel, her mother was admitted to hospital with TB. Marie Therese remained at the hostel under the care of the other mothers living there, some as young as 14. It was common practice for one mother to look after the children while the other mothers worked. When Marie Therese's mother was ill in hospital, Marie Therese's high chair fell into an "open blazing fire". She sustained injuries that have left her with scars on her face, hand and leg. To this day she hides her hand from strangers and covers the scars on her face with her hair. Throughout her life, Marie Therese had no idea what caused her injuries. "I grew up with this imagination that somebody was trying to get rid of me.

"I never showed my hand to anyone... if anybody wanted to hold hands with me I pushed them away, I didn't ever tell anyone I had a bad hand." It was only when she was 29 and met her mother that she discovered the real cause of her injuries.

Subsequent to her stay at the mother-and-baby unit, Marie Therese went to Goldenbridge, a childcare home, when she was five years old. "There was a lot of name-calling (one of the names they called her was "scarface"), children were frightened of me, and deformity was used against me." During her time in Goldenbridge, Marie Therese made rosary beads: "nobody ever questioned throughout all my years in Goldenbridge [about]my deformity or whether I should or should not be making rosary beads... no child should be making rosary beads but especially not a child with a deformity... as far as I am concerned it did untold damage to the tissue". She describes her time in Goldenbridge as very lonely and unhappy, "I don't remember every getting close to anybody, I just can't remember… it had a cold atmosphere, I don't ever remember people saying nice things."

After Goldenbridge she went to work as an au pair in Switzerland. This didn't work out and she was sent back to Goldenbridge for a few months. She moved to London in her late teens and floated around hostels. "Ironically I was rescued by a woman from the Legion of Mary."

It was in her late 20s, after undergoing counselling, that she began to wonder about her mother. She had grown up believing that her mother was dead as this was what the nuns in Goldenbridge told her. She returned to Dublin to find her mother's grave. It was then that she discovered that her mother was alive. "I couldn't understand I said, I am looking for a grave, not a person. I was out of myself, the shock horror, they wanted to get a doctor." She returned to London where her mother tracked her down: "I got this phone call and this woman with a country accent said 'I'm your mother'. 'My mother is dead,' I said. 'I'm not that person,' and she said, 'you are, you are,' and she asked me to forgive her, and not to have any recriminations towards her."

"She [Marie Therese's mother] found it very hard to talk about [the fire incident], but I did ask questions, and I'm very glad that I did ask questions. I wrote to them seeking litigation, the solicitor told me I was statute barred, I didn't even have the education to go to a solicitor myself, I still hadn't adapted to the outside world."

In 2000, under a Freedom of Information application, Marie Therese got access to her Goldenbridge files, which included details of her medical history. "I'm actually lucky that it was recorded, and then I was lucky too that I got that information from my mother."

Marie Therese says that she will continue with her protest outside the Dáil until next Christmas if necessary. "When I get bad moments, when I am feeling so isolated and I'm lying down outside the Dáil, I think that 18-month-old baby was never acknowledged, was totally and utterly ignored." She has written more than 300 letters to members of the Government. A number of them – including Joe Costello, Joe O'Toole, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and Olywn Enright – are supporting her.

Mary Hanafin, Minister for Education and Science, came to visit her once outside, to tell her that she will not be adding the unit to the redress schedule. The Department of Education did offer her counselling for the emotional effects of Goldenbridge. "It's not sufficient for somebody to have half their hand almost taken off and for them to say 'oh yeah we'll deal with the psychological aspect of what happened to you in Goldenbridge'".

Last edited by Marie-Therese O' loughlin (2006-10-03 10:13:39)

The Irish Government established the Redress Board in 2002 after a number of media investigations revealed the horrific abuse suffered by children who were sent to industrial schools around Ireland, usually for committing petty crimes or because their parents were deemed unfit to look after them.


Between the 1920s and 1960s, it is estimated that 150,000 children were sentenced to spend time in residential institutions, which were under the charge of the State and run, for the most part, by Catholic clergy.


While there, some children suffered physical and sexual abuse, neglect and forced manual labour at the hands of their caregivers, often leaving school unable to read or write.

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60,000 children stolen from mothers in Ireland, 1
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The speech of President Mary McAleeese, at the University College Cork, Friday 27th January 2006 – A View from 2006.
Report in relation to the above mentioned speech and the serious issues as follows:
After reading the speech of President Mary McAleese, at the University College Cork,

Friday 27th January 2006, in relation to the 90th Anniversary of the 1916 Rising – A View from 2006, her speech referred to Human Rights.

We were therefore surprised that President Mary McAleese, did not mention the 60,000 babies stolen then sold in the Republic of Ireland.

Between the 1930s and the 1960s an estimated 60,000 newborns were procured under false pretences for married couples that had been turned down as prospective adoptive parents on various grounds.

The perpetrators of Baby Trafficking broke the law, forged documents, destroyed evidence, and took babies from young unmarried mothers on the pretext of arranging legal adoptions.

Amongst those implicated are priests, nuns, midwives and nurses who were paid to break the law and steal babies from their unmarried mothers, then smuggled them to married couples who brought them up as their own flesh and blood.

Large amounts of cash changed hands to ensure the entire illegal episode was hushed up.

Adult victims of the Republics Baby Trafficking, some of them shipped to America as babies, faced a conspiracy of silence and a total absence of records when they attempt to discover their true identity.

Thousands of adult victims of institutional child abuse including my wife Mary identify themselves as being in the same position.

We have recently learnt that details of horrific abuse at St Joseph’s industrial school run by nuns in Connemara are expected to be unveiled in the High Court.

It appears a woman in her 60s is suing the Mercy Order, the Archdiocese of Tuam, the State and the Minister for Justice, and the Departments of Education and Health in a personal injuries case which has been in the pipeline for the past seven years.

In seeking his costs, Paul O’Higgins, SC. for the State and the Mercy Order, said the action could have gone before the Residential Institutional Redress Board.

May we suggest that Paul O’Higgins, SC. read and digest the contents of the Human Rights Committee terms of reference at the Office of the Law Society of Ireland?

There are many victims of institutional child abuse who are not afraid to speak out.

They have courageously broke their silence and spoke out how they have been systematically ripped off by the legal profession they trusted to represent them before the corrupt Redress Board.

Angry victims of institutional child abuse complained to former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D. in 2003, but he took no action.

The corrupt Redress Board rules are also questionable and one would be tempted to believe they were put in place to cover the backsides of the greedy vultures from the law library.

It’s quite clear that serious issues have arisen for some time in relation to the corrupt Redress Board.

We would like to point out that many victims of institutional child abuse including my wife Mary have been awarded pittance from the corrupt Redress Board.

The Redress Board is one of the greatest abuses perpetrated against victims of sexual abuse in religious – run residential institutions, according to a top psychiatrist.

Dr. Michael Corry, founder of the institute of Psychosocial Medicine, said the Redress Board stringent secrecy laws are causing huge psychological damage to victims.

In a letter to The Irish Times dated 19th May 2005, Dr. Michael Corry, Consultant Psychiatrist, stated his firm believe is that the Redress Board contravenes the most basic of human and civil rights.

In short it represents a crime against humanity.

It should be abolished immediately and replaced by an open forum where the victim is not only properly monetarily compensated, but where they can have their perpetrators named, and the scales of justice balanced.

It’s quite clear that many survivors support groups have received a number of complaints from abuse victims claiming they have received reduced levels of compensation after waiving an initial award by the Redress Board.

The Aislin Centre has written to the Redress Board, Judge O’Leary, outlining their concerns over the treatment of survivors.

Christine Buckley, Director of the Aislinn Centre, has claimed that a number of victims have complained of their negative experiences before the Redress Board.

Colm O’Gorman, Director of One in Four victims support group is currently compiling a detailed dossier of issues that have arisen from the Tom Sweeney case and which will be presented to the Redress Board within the next few months.

It’s quite clear that Tom Sweeney spent 22 days on hunger strike after his initial compensation offer of 113,000 euros was cut to 67,000 euros.

When the corrupt system of redress for victims of abuse in industrial schools was set up, following Mr. Bertie Aherns, apology spurred on by the legal proceedings issued against the State and the Religious Orders in May 1999, it offered a generous and compassionate approach, a lot of cynical manoeuvring took place with the former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Michael Martin, T.D. moving out of his office to take over as Minister for Health & Children, which allowed the second former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Michael Woods, T.D. to move in, then the Governments former chief legal adviser, Mr. Michael McDowell, Attorney General, moved out of his office to take over as Minister for Justice & Law Reform, then the details of redress were then worked out under their own terms by a corrupt Compensation Advisory Committee, Chaired by Mr. Sean Ryan, in 2001, with Mr.Tom Boland playing a big part as one of its Members, the former Chair Mr. Sean Ryan then moved out of the corrupt Compensation Advisory Committee, to take over as Chair of the corrupt Redress Board in 2002, the second former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Michael Woods, T.D. then moved out of his office, which allowed the third former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D. to move in, then the former Chair Mr. Sean Ryan moved out of the corrupt Redress Board to Chair of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, after his meeting with the third former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D. in County Cork, following Honourable, Justice Mary Laffoy’s letter of resignation dated 2nd September 2006. Honourable, Justice Mary Laffoy was right in her resignation and is, in many of institutional child abuse views, the only Honourable member of the original echelon of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.

The third former Minister of Education & Science, Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D. then moved out of his office, which allowed the fourth Minister for Education & Science, Ms. Mary Hanafin, T.D. to move in.

The second former Minister of Education & Science, Mr. Michael Woods, T.D. in a statement about the corrupt Compensation Advisory Committees conclusion he said one of the most important observations was that the child injuries were “among the most serious kinds of personal injury known to law.”

Survivors “had lost their childhood – much of their adulthood as well.”

He also said that because of the complexities of measuring the impact of abuse, the State would obtain its guidelines for the awards from the Irish Courts.

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60,000 children stolen from mothers in Ireland, 2
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He also said that because of the complexities of measuring the impact of abuse, the State would obtain its guidelines for the awards from the Irish Courts.
It’s quite clear the second former Minister of Education & Science, Mr. Michael Woods, T.D. negotiated at the same time with the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) with a “Secret Deal” to pay only 128 million euros of the total compensation bill, which included a corrupt 10 million euros Education fund which is now in the hands of the fourth Minister for Education & Science, Ms. Mary Hanafin, T.D.

Patsy McGarry, a Religious Affairs Correspondent, reported in The Irish Times dated 15th October 2004, that the fourth Minister for Education & Science, Ms. Mary Hanafin, T.D. said Members of the Oieachtaas Committee on Education, have been assured that awards by the Redress Board were in line of the High Court, and that it had an obligation to do this.

All is not what it seems.

Far worse has been going on behind the closed doors of the corrupt Redress Board, with pitiful awards being made that come no where near the corrupt criteria given by the former Chair Mr. Sean Ryan’s corrupt Compensation Advisory Committee, 2001, or in ministerial statements supporting that criteria, nor does the corrupt Redress Board system of awards meet with the basic principles of natural justice and the requirements for openness in the Convention on Human Rights.

There is substantial dissatisfaction among many victims of institutional child abuse that the corrupt Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and the corrupt Redress Board is not fulfilling its role as promised by the Government and its Ministers.

The corrupt Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Chair Mr. Sean Ryan, has an approach seen by many victims of institutional child abuse who have been attending the hearings as simplistic, benign and unchallenging, its quite clear at the start of the corrupt Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse hearings it is reported that the Chair Mr. Sean Ryan, while hearing the testimony of the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D. and the testimonies of the above mentioned people at their hearings, he did not challenge any of the contradiction of each of their statements while they were still under oath.

The key problem facing the Government and many victims of institutional child abuse is that the corrupt Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, 2001, and the corrupt Redress Board, 2002, which is the creation of government legislation, is simply not giving not giving the results promised by the State.

On two critical occasions during the framing and passage of legislation which set up the original Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse – over which Honourable Justice Mary Laffoy presided until her letter of resignation dated 2nd September 2003, the second former Minister for Education & Science, Michael Woods, T.D. claimed the awards made for abuse would parallel the substantial awards made in the High Court.

He recommended that the best guidance for the Government should be “by reference to the level of awards made by the Irish Courts for pain and suffering and loss of amenities arising from serious personal injury.”

This has simply not happened.

By comparison with court awards for sexual abuse, the offers and the handouts from the corrupt Redress Board have been derisory.

The State has created a legal process based on secret hearings where neither the public nor the media can discover what is being done.

This is an abuse of the European Convention on Human Rights for which Ireland is a signatory.

Openness in public hearings is vital for all parties.

There are around 14,768 sad army of victims of institutional child abuse including my wife Mary, who have made applications to the corrupt Redress Board by the deadline last December 2005.

Their weapon of war is a bleak and complicated “Application Form,” this disgraceful document comes out of the corrupt Redress Act 2002.

The aim of a proper Redress Act 2002, which was rubber stamped by President Mary McAleese, is surely to provide a proper mechanism whereby victims of physical and sexual child abuse and the lack of care while in institutions within the State, can make a proper application for redress to compensate them for the abuse they suffered. In order to assist an applicant the third former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D. stated that a lower threshold of proof is required and the Redress Board will conduct its sittings in a informal manner in order to accommodate the applicant.

When a person makes an application to the Redress Board they are required to establish to the Board firstly, their identity, secondly that they were resident in the institution during their childhood and finally that they were injured while so resident and the injury is consistent with the abuse that is alleged to have happened.

In the event an applicant is dissatisfied with an award he/she may reject the decision of the Redress Board Committee and pursue the matter through the Courts.

According to the third former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Noel Dempsey’s, T.D. conclusion the aim of the Redress Board is to provide victims of institutional abuse with an alternative avenue to pursue their claim.

That was the theory.

The practice has been entirely different.

Depending on the award made by the corrupt Redress Board and /or the corrupt Redress Board Review Committee, claimants would have to give serious consideration to their options to proceed with their High Court Action.

If the High Court award a claimant a sum less than or equal to the pittance amount awarded to a claimant by the Redress Board.

Apart from the time factor, the claimant may be held responsible for all costs and outlay from the date of the lodgement (the pittance amount awarded to the claimant by the Redress Board) after giving the above mentioned options serious consideration, we do not think any claimant would be stupid enough to instruct their firm of solicitors to follow down the same road in a corrupt process which leaves the claimant to consider the consequences.

Its quite clear in part of the redress system itself, as in so many other State approaches to legislative commitments, has been taken from the British Criminal Injuries Compensation Board system.

This has broadly the same purpose as the Redress Board, and that is to by–pass litigation, Instead of a back injury or a loss of a finger earning £7,500 or 10,000, it is rape or assault that is measured in hard cash.

Although this disgraceful and complicated application form is posited on the idea that an applicant could fill it out on his/her own, the complexities demand assistance from an early point.

It’s quite clear that this kind of work of making representations on behalf of claimants before the corrupt Redress Board had been proving lucrative for many law firms.

Details of the offending institutions have to be given in the form, and the offences, even down to the point of providing a “number,” given to them in the institution.


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60,000 children stolen from mothers in Ireland, 3
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This, together with grim details of past suffering, all of it called “evidence,” together with medical and psychiatric reports, is made available to “any person and to the representive of any institution in this application.”
This represents hugely excessive disclosure.

But the punitive situation is far more extensive.

Including the claimant taking responsibility for everything stated.

It includes agreeing to the corrupt Redress Board requesting “Any person to produce to it any document which may relate to this application.”

It goes further.

It asks the applicant to make prior judgement to whether he/she will “consider the possibility of settling this application without a hearing,” having on the same page answered comprehensive questions about other proceedings or actions for damages or for criminal investigation.

No comparable circumstances are to be found; on the UK Criminal injuries Compensation Boards work on which the corrupt Redress Board is modelled.

The corrupt Redress Board is free to call in its own medical advice.

It is free to submit documentation to all named parties.

And dare one say it, the claimant is already a deeply damaged victim, their lives ruined by illness and continuing medical treatment, and in many victims of institutional child abuse cases they are still attending further education classes long before the corrupt 10 million euros Education Fund was set up which is now in the hands of the fourth Minister for Education & Science, Ms. Mary Hanafin, T.D.

We should be dealing here surely with the circumstances where the claimant has been wronged.

It is the State and the Religious Orders who are suspected, with wide evidential support already, of having committed the acts complained of.

Yet they do not have to fill out any comparable form, they do not have to submit their documentation including all records and documents exchanging between the State and the Religious Orders and Pharmaceutical Companies pertaining to drug trail/tests and proposed drugs trial/tests of children in the care of the said Religious Orders and in particular all records and documents pertaining to the drug trails/tests carried out on my wife Mary, many institutional child abuse victims including my wife Mary face a conspiracy of silence and total absence of records when they attempt to discover their true identity, its quite clear that the State and the Religious Orders do not have to give undertakings about their truthfulness.

Do not have to promise not to give false information.

Are not required, “to give the corrupt Redress Board full assistance in conduct of this (or any other) application.”

The effect is several years of unreasonable delays for many victims of institutional child abuse.

We find the demand to end the traditional deference shown to the Catholic Church and a full legally – enforced audit of its finances is necessary.

In 2002, investment experts reckon there was more than 2 billion euros swirling around the stock market representing the accumulated wealth of the Religious Orders in Ireland. In addition, the great sell – off of lands by the Religious Orders has also become a billion euros business, as the Religious Orders close Industrial Schools, Boarding Schools, and Convents, and Hospitals and hawk valuable parcels of Land to enthusiastic developers.

Yet the second former Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Michael Woods, T.D. who negotiated the controversial “Secret Deal” between the 18 Religious Congregations and the State on victims of institutional child abuse compensation, which between them were responsible for the physical and sexual assault and lack of care of thousands of children over period of many years, will pay only 128 million euros in dribs and drabs stitching up the taxpayers with the remainder of the total compensation bill – itself now expected to reach well over 1 billion euros.

Martin Pius Kelly, Tridentine Bishop of Leinster, wants to see numerous of palaces and treasures around the country sold off and the cash handed over to the men and women who have been abused by priests and nuns.

He said, “Our Lord lived among the people but the bishops in Ireland have cut themselves off in their palaces and their big cars".

“They have lost the common touch.

The Church has so much wealth and land in this country it is nothing short of a scam.

And they are getting richer all the time, with little old men and women leaving them money in their wills to say masses for them.

Well these palaces should be sold off and the money given to these poor unfortunate victims of child abuse.

He said, “The stories we are hearing seem to be never ending".

I watched the drama series based on the Magdalene Laundries recently and what these poor women had to endure was just shocking.

In 2001, the colourful cleric hit the headlines when he claimed he carried out an exorcism on the streets of Carlow saying the town was home to devil worshippers.

In 2002, he told the Irish Sunday People that he was planning to stand as an independent Fianna Fail candidate for his home town in the next election.

“One of the first things I will do is carryout an exorcism in the Dail".

"It’s badly needed,” he said.

If you walk into the centre of St Stephens Green, Dublin, there is a park bench dedicated to the Magdalen women.

On it is a metal plaque inscribed with the small faceless heads and the words: “To the women who worked in the Magdalen laundry institutions and to the children born to some members of those communities – reflect here upon their lives.”

It appears there was not a church collar to be seen at the ceremony to dedicate the park bench to the Magdalen women.

Several church representatives had been invited.

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin had been approached to give even a one – line statement.

Nothing was forthcoming.

The silence surrounding the failure of the State and the Religious Orders to acknowledge their guilt continues.

It’s quite clear that the State and the Religious Orders in relation to the corrupt Redress Board and the corrupt Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse born out of the corrupt Redress Act 2002 are in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

When one reads the European Convention on Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee terms of reference at the Office of the Law Society of Ireland it becomes very clear why.

It’s also quite clear that the corruption and the malpractice of the Church, politicians and gardai, have all been exposed over recent years.

And recently the Irish legal profession is finally exposed as several corrupt solicitors prey on some of society’s most vulnerable victims.

It begs the question – is this Government fit to govern us?

Does the Irish government have any respect for the Constitution, the basic law of Ireland?

The Basics: Under the Constitution, Ireland belongs to the people of Ireland.

It is a democracy.

The people of Ireland ordained that three organs of state should be set up to protect their democracy: the Oireachtas, the government and the courts.

The government is executively responsible for running the country and must give effect to the laws passed by the Oireachtas.

The courts (the judges) are obliged to ensure that the constitution is upheld, and the laws respected and justice dispensed.

The success or failure of Irish democracy largely depends on the respect the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern; T.D. has for the power between the Oireachtas, the government and the courts.

The Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D. should know that in the informal game of politics, a politician survives on votes.

The government has forgotten the constitution, a legal document for which it must respect.

Once elected by the people, a T.D. (member of parliament).

As a formally – elected representative of the people, a T.D. is first and foremost a lawmaker in one of the three organs of the state – the parliament).

When the parliament makes a law, however, the government is obliged, as necessary to give effect to it.

The problem for the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D. and the fourth Minister for Education & Science, Ms. Mary Hanafin, T.D. and the former three Ministers of Education and Science, and the Chair Mr. Sean Ryan, of the corrupt Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and the former Chair and present Chair of the corrupt Redress board, is that they are wearing so many different hats they have forgotten the rules of the game.

The Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D. gave political assurances to thousands of victims of institutional child abuse in religious – run residential institutions.

He has not honoured these assurances.

A strong argument exists that responsibility and liability for the negligent handling of so many victims of institutional child abuse cases before the corrupt Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and the corrupt Redress Board, should rest at the front door of the State and the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) and the European Convention on Human Rights for which Ireland is a signatory.

In conclusion it seems, on the evidence given so far, the State appears to have joined the religious orders in flight from human rights and justice and recompense rather in pursuit of it.

Will the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D. deal with this constitutional crisis in a formal way or will his government, as it seems more likely, continue down the dangerous road of deterring democracy through political spin.

Yours sincerely,
Email the Writer

Albert King, on behalf of Mary King, (victim of institutional child abuse). 24/2/2006.

Last edited by Marie-Therese O' loughlin (2006-11-18 08:52:52)

Setanta arrived at Culainn's house and the hound bayed like thunder and immediately sprang at him. Setanta, who had only his hurling stick and sliotar with him, hurled the ball with colossal force at the hound. The ball went into the gaping jaws of the huge animal and down into its throat. The hound was forced back by the pain of the blow. Immediately Setanta grabbed the hound by its legs and smashed its head on the stone courtyard. When Conor heard the hound baying he remembered Setanta and he rushed outside expecting to find him torn to pieces. He was overjoyed to see him unharmed. Is this what you metaphorically want to do to the 90% of victims/survivors
of institutional abuse - whom you ascertain are purportedly not telling the truth? The King's hound made a leap at Sentanta & in order to live to tell the tale the latter went for the kill, - which was acceptable given the undesirable circumstances in which he was found. It was fundamentally, - survival of the fittest! Nonetheless, subsequently, in no way did Setanta turn his indignation/wrath on other invited guests at the King's party whom had entirely nothing got to do with the dreadful life-threatening incident, as you are so doing with respect of victims/survivors who have/are appeared/ing before the Residential Institutions Redress Board. It is well documented the abuse that was systematically meted out to children of the industrial schools in the past. In addition, "Sexual Abuse" is monstrous. however, In not wanting to belittle it - it is only ‘one’ form of abuse that is being ’covered’ by the RIRB Boards sphere of activity. So please, in your expedition for justice do not smudge all victims/survivors with the equivalent brush. The respective victims/survivors did not ask to grow up in these despicable child - friendless institutions; the judiciary, the church & state & the ISPCC, the 'Cruelty' Men, the Legion of Mary, Barnardo's, & unwilling poverty-stricken parent/parents foisted this life upon them. Target the person/s whom you ‘allege’ wounded you but please do not rope in others of whose lives you know nothing. You ostensibly have tunnel vision on such a gargantuan issue {judging by your postings}- that has rocked not only this country, but also that of Europe & the United States of America. I do not mean to be denigratory, but you evidently haven't a bull's notion as to how the institutions operated in the olden days. As you mentioned the Health Board I instantaneously assumed your alleged debacle is from a more recent era. Since the seventies, the Kennedy Report, despite it not being implemented in the manner with which the report laid out. Nevertheless, life in institutions then began to change for the better. 
I noticed particularly that you honed in on the Residential Institutions Redress Board, which does not deal in adversarial detail with applicants claims. Should you not be concentrating on the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse {investigative arm} as this was the forum for telling ones story in a more adversarial mode? - not the former {RIRB}. The Redress Board only pays out compensation, it does not act as judge & jury as you are already aware. There is no fact-finding mission. The average payment/award is comparable to a solicitors {five years experience} annual wage. For a lifetime of suffering, - From what I've gathered it has been speculated that it is supposedly coming from over-seas accounts , so that won't be directly affecting the Nations purse - strings it is not too much to quibble/write home about. Given the fact too that the coffers of the state are full to over flowing. {When one considers also those children - whom, from as young as six/seven years until sixteen/seventeen years & onwards - worked daily in a sweat shop, {a classroom was illegally used for this slave labouring job} making rosary beads {piece work}- as well as scrubbing & cleaning without ever receiving a wage.}with the exception that is of an annual sum of 2/6d = half crown old money; a tuck-shop was set up in the recreaction hall {wreck for short} & children invariably spent their hard earned cash. Does this not smack of prison - type goings-on?.............  However, one defines home, as a high percentage of victims /survivors never to this day required social, emotional, skills or wherewithal to set up a decent home. It was stated- quite emphatically to Judge Ryan at the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in May 2006 that six ex-inmates from Goldenbridge Industrial School had prematurely died; some had not even reached the fifty mark. Compare that with the longevity of the Religious, some of whom reach a century. I know a few more whom have since died. Since the outset of both the investigative/confidential Commission & the RIRB, 75 victims/survivors of institutional abuse have committed suicide. That figure also, in May2006 was quoted to the Commission! - I dread to think what the current figure is! It is in my book is a sad indictment & is not acceptable. Setanta, indeed, fight your own corner but there are two sides to the coin. Dr Woods took a great risk when he set up the Redress Board. Unfortunately, there were going to be losers, all round & that too includes victims/survivors of Institutional abuse who also never got a look in. In saying all this there is no other system in the world that can beat it. The concept of the Residential Institutions Redress Board is absolutely fantastic. I personally thank Michael E Hanahoe Solicitors of; Sunlight Chambers, 21, Parliament St, Dublin 2 for sticking with & putting up with victims/survivors of institutional abuse. The dedicated staff have done trojan work...............& on behalf of institutional contemporaries I fully & wholeheartedly thank the firm. It is indeed not before time. ..............................................................................................."Never look a gift horse in the mouth!"


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Last edited by Marie-Therese O' loughlin (2006-11-17 08:45:47)

==Statement 4.== LIES AND FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE MADE BY CHILDREN FROM SAINT JOSEPHS ORPHANAGE KILKENNY CITY IRELAND.]
I wish to make some comments and observations about Crooked Solicitors,Crooked Kilkenny Gardai.Crooked Barristers.Crooked Legal Council,and a very Crooked Residential Institutions Redress Board,and Crooked Judge O'Leary.
I have seen statements submitted to the Redress Board which clearly show that the Irish State Authorities,namely,The Gardai (The Irish Police Force),The Judiciary,Solicitors,and Barristers have handled,and acted upon statements submitted by unscrupulous individuals from St.Josephs Industrial School Kilkenny City in Ireland,while knowing that the material contained therein was suspect,unsafe,and fundamentally flawed.
On 9th.January 2003,Mr.Ian Smith,Social Worker and Team Leader in the Waterford Health Board stated that Mr.Ed.Murphy of the South Eastern Health Board had confirmed that it was suspected that a Pedophile ring operated amongst the staff in St.Josephs in Kilkenny.

I submit that when allegations of child sexual,and physical abuse were made,and originating from St.Josephs in Kilkenny,our Witch Hunt public,and State Officials,especially,and notably,the Kilkenny Gardai,formed a perception of guilt against every person that was named by those who had made the allegations.
I submit that the whole system of redress was designed to be in favor of all applicants,and heavily weighted,and biased against all those who were accused by these applicants.
Having formed a perception of guilt against named individuals,the Kilkenny Gardai then acted,without doing their homework,and without any fair justice,and a basic common sense,and intelligence.
I believe that Crooked Solicitors,Crooked Barristers,Crooked Legal Council,a Crooked Redress Board Judge,and the very Crooked Redress Board as a whole,have for years,assisted these unscrupulous applicants,through their draconian law and order,to attain their end,which was their receipt of large sums of money.
And these allusive, and secretive authorities,  have done,and are continuing to operate their system of outrageous secrecy,and crookednessry,and playing their part in a complicated, and well planned, and engineered cover-ups of a monumental national sex,and abuse scandal,involving the scandalous neglect by the Irish Government,and the Catholic Church, of our children, who were placed in the care of our Irish State, and Church run institutions over thirty years ago.
In total secrecy,the Residential Institutions Redress Board pays out large sums of money to applicants,and also expenses, and legal fees are claimed by the applicants  legal teams.
And this being carried out by them, while they are aware that false allegations of child sexual, and physical abuse,and mental suffering,that are contained in many of the applicants statements.
And in their full knowledge of the resulting destruction of innocent men,women and children,who have to suffer the stigma,frustration,grief and trauma. from incompetent, and biased Social Workers,Poison Pen Letters,Witch-Hunt gangs of miserable, and ignorant people,and Gardai that will do nothing about it.
I am suffering all of this,after being accused in the wrong through the Redress Board,who then deny me,the falsely accused person, my basic Constitutional,National,and International right of a fair Challenge,and Reply.
The opinion, and belief of the general public,that it was the adult employees,and staff,and the Nuns,including Sr.Joseph Conception,who was the Reverend Mother,and Manageress of St.Josephs,who were the only perpetrators of this alleged sexual,and physical,and mental abuse alleged to have been suffered by the children in St.Josephs Kilkenny.

But contained in their statements that I have seen,which have been written,and witnessed by the Kilkenny Gardai,and presented by Solicitors on behalf of their clients to the Redress Board,clearly shows,that on their own admission,and statement,it was the children themselves that were sexually,and physically,and mentally abusing each other.This was happening on a regular basis, while they were growing up,and while they were resident in St.Josephs Kilkenny.
In these statements,there are multiple,and appalling accounts of explicit,and graphical,sexual and physical contact between boys and boys,and between boys and girls.These children were all residents at that time in St.Josephs.
This deplorable conduct went on in St.Josephs for many years,and this fact has been clearly stated in the men's many statements.
This recorded, and well documented situation is kept in secret from the general public,and it shows, that a large group of children,consisting of vulnerable girls and boys,who have ,since a tender age,been having sexual,and physical contact with each other for many years,and that the same children,who are now adults,have now made multiple allegations that they were abused by the Management, and Staff of St.Josephs,and the Catholic Church.

I submit that it is blatantly obvious that all the statements that I have seen are fundamentally flawed,unsafe and incredible.
The secrecy of the Crooked Redress Board,and the Crooked Gardai,and the Crooked Solicitors,and their Crooked Legal Council,and a whole host of other Crooked people who have been, and are involved with these cases,ensure that unscrupulous applicants to the Redress Board can Lie,and make false statements.while knowing that they will expect to get away with it.
And then the Redress Board pays them large sums of money for doing so.

However,I submit that their enjoyment of this money will be short lived,because they have sold their souls to the Devil for a penny.

These unscrupulous applicants have admitted in their own statements,that they,as children,and also in their teens,and while they were resident in St.Josephs,were engaged in sexual,and physical abuses over a long period of time,with each other.
Boys sexually,and physically abusing other boys,and boys sexually abusing girls.
And Girls indecently exposing themselves while being unsupervised,and in the company of these boys, while under the care of the Nuns,and while they lived in St.Josephs Industrial School,Kilkenny.
Extracts from only a few of their statements of which I have seen, are contained in the following quotations.
These evil practices,and events, are described in the men's statements as being "Regular"
And their years spent in St.Josephs,while living in "a highly sexualized atmosphere"
"most of the lads were messing around with each other,mostly at night after going to bed.
It consisted of oral sex,masturbation and generally messing around with each others privates".
"We were exploring each other sexually".
"I would recall that a lot of these residents were sexually active with each other while in St.Josephs"
"A boy aged about sixteen used to come into my bed.He used to pull down my clothes.lie on top of me and worked himself up and down unti he ejaculated on top of me.  He did this when ever he felt like it,which was regular"
"The girls used to do hand stands with no knickers on"
"The lads used to be feeling their privates"
"I remember **Named Girl**She had big breasts and she would come into our rooms topless"
"The boys would feel her breasts"
"I was completely destroyed by the stress of it all and would describe myself as being in a disturbed state of mind"
"I would say at this stage I was in a deep state of depression"
"When I was in Summerhill most of the lads used to masturbate each other regularly"
"One night I came home and found **Named Boy** messing with my brother **Named Boy**He had his hands underneath the bedclothes.I gave **Named Boy** a few digs.This statement has been read over to me by Garda Maher and is correct"
And also witnessed by Garda Sergeant John Tuohy,16574C Kilkenny Garda Station.

Summerhill was the name of one of the units "sets"which was part of St.Josephs Kilkenny.

These are some of the horrific examples of children from St.Josephs describing their activities in their statements,which have been written and witnessed by the Kilkenny Gardai in 1995.and 1997.and also presented to the Redress Board in 2003.
Garda Sergeant John Tuohy,Detective Sergeant Liam Maher, and Detective Garda John Bergin of Kilkenny Garda station have written,and acted on the statements by many unscrupulous individuals from St.Josephs who have lied,and falsely claimed that they were sexually,and physically abused by me while they were resident in St.Josephs Kilkenny.

The firm of Solicitors,Michael Lanigan & Co.1 High Street,Kilkenny City have acted on behalf of these unscrupulous applicants,and while representing their clients, presented these statements to the Redress Board for redress.

I wrote to Michael Lanigan & Co,in Kilkenny,but they declined to respond to my request for pertinent information about their unscrupulous client.
In their letter addressed to myself,and dated 23rd.March 2006.they stated "I confirm that I would not be in a position to divulge any information whatsoever in respect of any clients case to a third party.I am sure you will appreciate I must keep Solicitor Client relationships confidential"This was signed by Martin O' Carroll Michael Lanigan & Co.

I wrote to The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, but in their reply dated 21st.November 2005.and in their wisdom, they stated "As you are aware,you are not accused of abuse by anyone giving evidence to the Investigation Committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse."and "The complaints that you level at the authorities in this regard are outside the terms of reference of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse."
I made the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse fully aware of the men from St. Josephs Industrial School Kilkenny who had made false statements alleging that they had suffered child sexual, mental and physical abuse while they lived there as children over thirty years ago,and the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse did nothing about it.

In kind with my letters and efforts to make contact with the elusive Irish agencies listed previously and hereafter, I wrote to The Sunday Times,and supplied them with some examples of my grief and suffering as a result of being falsely accused of child abuse, and about the disgraceful way that I and my family have been treated by Incompetent Biased Social Workers of the Irish Health Boards, the corrupt Irish Police force, and the corrupt solicitors, Barristers and their legal teams, and others,  who had been involved in our tragic case.
But in their reply dated 25th.November 2003., the Irish Times news reporter John Burns stated, that "as a mere journalist," he was not competent to to deal with these serious matters.


I wrote to the Redress Board while requesting a transcript of a particular hearing where I had proved that an unscrupulous applicant from St.Josephs had lied about me,and perjured himself while at that hearing,but they declined to honor my request.
Even my crooked solicitor wrote to the Redress Board and requested a transcript of that Hearing.They declined to release the transcript while stating that"We are at a loss to understand "as to why you should require same,as it would serve no useful purpose.
I wrote seven letters of complaint to the Kilkenny Gardai in November 2005 about six of these individuals who had made false statements against me.But the Gardai in Kilkenny did nothing about it ,and they have remained silent to date.
The seven formal complaints also adversely implicated the Kilkenny Gardai named in this letter,for Neglect of Duty,and their failure to respond to my letters of complaint,and much,much more.
Garda Superintendent Gordon Ryan,Garda Superintendent Patrick G. Mangan, Garda Inspector Pat O'Connor and Garda Sergeant Frank Mc Kenna of Kilkenny Garda Station are all fully aware about this serous situation,and they have done nothing about it to date.
However,as a result of a formal complaint made by myself to An Garda Siochana Complaints Board in Dublin,a full Garda inquiry was set up by the Complaints Board to investigate the matters.
The Gardai investigate the Gardai, while I wait patiently.

Garda Superintendent Gordon Ryan of Kilkenny Garda Station is the subject of this internal Garda enquiry, for his Improper Conduct by neglect of duty,and his failure over a reasonable length of time to respond to my serous inquiries.
Chief Superintendent Garda T.P.Murray is the investigator.
This inquiry commenced on 25th.May 2006.and Chief Supt.Murray gave me his undertaking that he would  send me a typed copy of my statement, which was witnessed by him on that day.
It is now five months since that time,and I continue to wait patiently.
I have not received the promised, typed copy of my statement,and there has been no word,and no response from Chief Supt.Murray,or the Garda Complaints Board about their inquiry.

I wrote to the Irish Department of Justice,Equality and Law Reform, and advised and complained to them about the many matters concerning and about my tragic case.But they avoided any involvement, and declined to respond, while stating ;

"As your letter refers to documentation released to you by the South Eastern Health Board on foot of a request made by you under the Freedom of Information Act, I have forwarded your letter and enclosures to the South Eastern Health Board for their attention and direct reply to you on the matter.If you should have any further queries on the matter,you should contact the Freedom of Information Officer in the South Eastern Health Board at 056-7784100."
This was signed by Maeve Hogan.Freedom of Information Officer,and dated 11th.November 2003.
The South Eastern Health Board have remained elusive and silent,and they also declined to make any reply to me on the matter.

I wrote to the Ombudsman, and complained in detail about the very bad treatment that I was receiving from Emily O'Reilly,who was the Freedom of Information Commissioner.But to my surprise,I learned that Emily O'Reilly also held the "impartial" post of Ombudsman.This is an obvious conflict of interest of the two positions held by this esteemed and honorable woman, and her positions held intact and unchallenged with the blessing and approval of a very corrupt Irish state system.
I did not expect,nor did I receive a favorable reply from the Ombudsman and the Freedom of Information Commissioner.





We have a common, and detested name "Pedophile"which is freely applied by adults to use it to describe any person who is accused of abusing and / or murdering children.

But what name do adults call the children from St.Josephs Kilkenny, who have admitted sexually, and physically abuse each other regularly for years,while they lived as children under the care of Sister Joseph Conception,and the nuns in St.Josephs Kilkenny.This catastrophic information about the children's lives in St.Josephs has been made by my false accusers, checked, and written by the Kilkenny Gardai (Police) who have acted on same.

What suitable name can adults use, which would adequately, and accurately describe the Nun, Sr.Joseph Conception,who thirty years ago was the Reverend Mother, and Manageress of St.Josephs Industrial School Kilkenny,and her Holy Sisters of Charity,who lived,and worked there,and the Catholic Church,and the Irish Government Officials, and Civil Servants,and Ministers, and the many other informed and miserable people who allowed these deplorable,and dangerous conditions to happen,and then allowed them to continue for such a long time in St.Josephs?

Would any responsible Person, Mother,or Father,or Nun, allow sexually active,adolescent,depressed,and disturbed,and vulnerable boys to have free unsupervised access to each other,and with other boys and girls of all ages, during day time,bed time,night time,and morning time while they were resident in St.Josephs?

What responsible Person,Father,or Mother,or Nun, would allow physically developed,and adolescent,and vulnerable girls,to be unsupervised,and have sexual contact,and related activities with sexually active,physically developed and adolescent, immature,depressed,and disturbed and vulnerable boys?

This information about their past events in St.Josephs has been given by these boys,who are now grown men, in their statements to the Kilkenny Gardai named earlier,and also tendered by them as sworn statement before the Redress Board,where they callously declared their truthfulness,and signed documents which stated that;
"Giving false information or evidence to the Board is an offense"
and, "This Statement is correct"
and "I declare that the information which I have given in this form is true to the best of my knowledge,and understand that I am personally responsible for it"
and, "I hereby declare that this statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and that I make it knowing that if it is tendered in evidence I will be liable to prosecution if I state anything which I know to be false or do not believe to be true"

Sergeant John Tuohy,and Detective Sergeant Liam Maher,and Detective John Bergin received,and wrote down this appalling information in statements submitted by individuals from St.Josephs in 1995,and 1997.
In 2003,more statements were made by the same individuals,and all these papers including the papers of 1995 and 1997 were presented before the Redress Board for redress.
Many of these statements contain conflicting information that did not match their earlier statements documented by the Kilkenny Gardai in 1995 and 1997.
There is clear evidence in one statement,that a Kilkenny Garda,Sergeant John Tuohy informed an applicant in 1995 that a woman member of St.Josephs Staff had admitted  sexually abusing him,but the unscrupulous applicant denied it while stating that it must have been **Named Boy**.But to add to this horror,in 2003.the same unscrupulous applicant in his statement to the Residential Redress Board stated "I was sexually abused by "Named Woman Staff Member**.

These points which are pertinent to all the applicants to the Redress Board who have named me,have been complained about by me to the Redress Board,and to the Kilkenny Gardai,and others,since 2003.

The Kilkenny Gardai have done nothing about it.
The applicants Solicitors have done nothing about it.
Their Barristers, and Legal Council have done nothing about it.
Judge O'Leary has done nothing about it.And this Redress Board Judge then  declined to prosecute the unscrupulous applicant for Perjury and Offense.
I have seen this happen at a Redress Board Hearing, and the Redress Board has done nothing about it.

I submit that there may be hundreds more statements in kind with the ones that I have seen,which have been dealt with by the Redress Board.They are being kept in secret by the Board,and in secret by the applicants Solicitors,and Senior and Junior Council,and the Gardai.
I submit that because  these unscrupulous applicants have admitted that while they were resident in St.Josephs,they had taken part in sexual activities among themselves,and abused each other, both physically and mentally,and other,that their statements are unsafe,and without any credibility whatsoever.

In the few statements that I have seen, Sr.Joseph Conception. Sr.Vincent Freer. Teresa Connolly. Myles Brady. Breffney O'Rourke. David Murray. Tom Walsh.are named by these unscrupulous men , as being their alleged abusers in their statements,which have been written,and witnessed by the Kilkenny Gardai,and presented to the Residential Redress Board for redress.

Some of these named people were sent to prison as a result of complaints made against them by the same men that have lied,and made false statements against myself.

Myles Brady died while in prison.

If the Crooked Irish Judiciary are prepared to do nothing about this,and the Crooked Gardai are prepared to do nothing about this,and our Crooked Solicitors and their Crooked Legal Council are prepared to do nothing about this,then who will investigate,and seek Justice for innocent people like myself,and for the good people of Ireland?
Who is safe from these vile monsters who make false allegations alleging that they had suffered  child sexual and physical and mental abuse. And then the Irish State Agencies of the law, who will callously act, and destroy innocent people, and their innocent families,while they use and abuse their illicit powers, and  their vile unfounded,unwarranted and unproven perceptions of guilt to destroy their victims.

I have seen no fair justice, kindness, or caring from any of the Irish State Agencies who are, and have been involved in this tragic case

I am an innocent person who has been falsely accused by these unscrupulous individuals from St.Josephs Kilkenny,and then very badly treated by the Gardai,and the Irish State Authorities,and especially,by incompetent,and very biased Social Workers, and the Irish Health Boards,and our Witch-Hunt, ill informed Society.

It is my experience,that the law in Ireland is very Crooked,and biased in favor of those who do wrong.But what I have said is truthful and accurate.
I am damned for no good,sound,or just reason,by so many people.
I feel so isolated, and rejected,and stigmatized.
I have done nothing wrong,But I have no one to turn to for help.
My life is ruined.
Regards,Setanta.

Last edited by Setanta (2007-09-22 07:21:20)

Marie Therese O' Loughlin
 
A round-the-clock protester outside the Dáil will mark the first anniversary of her picket tomorrow...............Saturday.....14th  Oct, 2006

Sleeping overnight in a two-man/woman tent, Dublin woman Marie Therese O'Loughlin is believed to be the longest-ever continuous protester outside the national parliament.

She claims that she was the victim of neglect/abuse in a feeder institution as a baby and should be allowed to seek compensation/
acknowledgement at the Residential Institutions Redress Board.

A total of 35 TDs and Senators have raised her plight in the Dail and have also given their moral support. Seanad/Dail members, including all Opposition party leaders and Seanad leader Mary O'Rourke............Senators/ Dail members: include, Terry Leydon; Dr Mary Henry; Brendan Ryan; Joanna Tuffy; David Norris; Sheila Terry; Mark McSharry;............................................................................................................
Mr. Sean Crowe, Dublin South-West, Sinn Féin, Mr. Ciaran Cuffe, Dún Laoghaire, Green Party, Mr. John Deasy Waterford Party: Fine Gael, Mr. Jimmy Deenihan, Kerry North, Fine Gael Dr. Jimmy Devins, Sligo-Leitrim Fianna Fáil, Mr. Bernard Durkan Kildare North Fine Gael, Mr. Damien English, Meath Fine Gael Ms. Olwyn Enright, Laoghis/Offaly, Fine Gael, Mr. Martin Ferris, Kerry North, Sinn Féin,
Mr. Michael Finneran Longford-Roscommon Fianna Fail, Ms. Mildred Fox, Wicklow, Independent, Mr. Eamon Gilmore, Dun Laoghaire, The Labour Party, Mr. Jim Glennon, Fianna Fail, Mr. Paul Nicholas Gogarty, Dublin Mid West Green Party, Mr. John Gormley Dublin South-East, Green Party
Mr. Noel Grealish, Galway West  Progressive Democrats Ms. Marian Harkin Sligo-Leitrim Independent Mr. Sean Haughey Dublin North Central  Fianna Fáil Mr. Seamus Healy Tipperary South Independent, Mr. Joe Higgins, Socialist Party Mr. Michael D. Higgins, Galway West The Labour Party
Mr. Philip Hogan, Carlow-Kilkenny Fine Gael Mr. Brendan Howlin Wexford The Labour Party Mr. Paul Kehoe, Fine Gael, Mr. Enda Kenny Mayo Fine Gael Mr. Tony Killeen Clare Fianna Fáil, Ms. Kathleen Lynch Cork North- Central The Labour Party, Mr. Shane McEntee, Meath, Fine Gael
Mr. Paul McGrath, Westmeath, Fine Gael Mr. Finian McGrath Dublin North Central Independent Ms. Liz McManus Wicklow The Labour Party
Mr. Gay Mitchell Dublin South-Central Fine Gael Mr. Michael Moynihan Cork North-West Fianna Fáil
Ms. Breeda Moynihan-Cronin Kerry South The Labour Party Ms. Catherine Murphy, Kildare North Independent Mr. Denis Naughten Longford-Roscommon Fine Gael Mr. Daniel Neville Limerick West Fine Gael  Mr. Matthew J. Nolan Carlow-Kilkenny Fianna Fáil, Mr. Michael Noonan Limerick East Fine Gael Mr. Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Féin, Mr. Aengus Ó Snodaigh Dublin South-Central Sinn Féin,
Ms. Liz O'Donnell Dublin South Progressive Democrats Mr. Jim O'Keeffe Cork South-West Fine Gael Mr. Brian O'Shea Waterford The Labour Party
Jan O'Sullivan Limerick East The Labour Party Mr. Séamus Pattison Carlow-Kilkenny The Labour Party Mr. William Penrose Westmeath Labour Party
Mr. Ruairí Quinn Dublin South-East The Labour  Party Mr. Pat Rabbitte Dublin South The Labour Party Mr. Sean Ryan Dublin North  The Labour Party Mr. Eamon Ryan Dublin South Green Party Mr. Trevor Sargent Dublin North Green PartY, Mr. Joe Sherlock, Cork East The Labour Party
Mr. Róisín Shortall Dublin North-West The Labour Party Mr. Emmet Stagg, Kildare North The Labour Party, Mr. Billy Godfrey Timmins Wicklow Fine Gael Mr. Noel Treacy Galway East Fianna Fáil Dr. Liam Twomey Wexford Fine Gael Dr. Mary Upton Dublin South-Central The Labour Party,   
Mr. Jack Wall Kildare South, The Labour Party...................................................Others also who have lent unfailing support to Marie-Therese are:.......................................................................................................................................................................................................
Dail Staff, which include: Marie Mchale, Marian Gaffney, Mary Ronan, Tall Paul, Donegal Pat,  Laois Tony, Marcus in the National Museum......... Aisling, Barbara, Polish kate, Polish, Danuta, Donal, Daniel, Robert, {Manager} of Buswells Hotel..........................Other supporters whom she would be lost without are: Margaret Rice, Loretta Byrne, Michael, {Famine chairman} & victims/survivors of institutional abuse, Patrick Boland, Patrick Keogh, & Patsy, who have remained constant.
She said today: "I'm here outside the 2 houses of the Oireachtas - 24/7 + 365 days now. I'll be residing here until the general election of May/June 2007 - and afterwards if needs be. I'm as determined now as I was on day one. Temperatures last winter rose to as low as minus 8 degrees Celsius. the wind factor would have added further to it & sometimes it was as low as minus 12/14 {oC}.  Icicles literally formed in the tent,  this happened when the air was around freezing level. The melting water was dripping down along the tent edges, forming a column of ice, If icicles are attached to a structure other than a large volume of ice, they usually don't grow very large before breaking by their own weight.........Marie Therese thought at first it was broken glass. She nonetheless actually surprised herself with all the resilience, doggedness, perseverance, persistence, tenaciousness & puts it down to the hardship she had to endure as a child growing up in a cold dark dank industrial school Goldenbridge industrial school. Every night since she also thinks also about the 18month old baby that never got justice, & this gives her the strength to continue."........................................................................................................................................................................
The Taoiseach told the Dáil in February that the Morning Star mother and baby wasn't regulated by the Department of Education and is therefore not eligible for inclusion under the Redress Board. Emma Browne, Village Magazine, was to later discover that it was in fact inspected from as far back as 1947

However, Marie Therese, wants Minister Mary Hanafin to sign a ministerial order to add the institution to the list.

As an 18-month-old baby, Marie Therese fell from her high-chair into an open fire at the formerly named Regina Coeli - Mater Dei Unit - on North Brunswick Street. Dublin 7. A Fireguard should have been in place. It was in contravention of the 1908 children, {section 25}. Warning posters at the time, were placed in every Garda Barracks/stations in the country reminding people of fire risks to children.  Penalties were incurred if such wasn't adhered to.   

She sustained severe burns to her right hand & to other parts of the torso  - injuries which have affected her badly and remain with her to this day.

Marie Therese later entered the notorious Goldenbridge orphanage/industrial school in Inchicore Dublin when she was almost five years old. She didn't see her mother {of whom she was told - was dead} again untill she was in her late twenties {when she decided to look for her burial ground}& to her chagrin & astonishment discovered she was indeed, alive. She {Marie- Therese} was with her when she died in 1990. Despite all the tragic pain, encountering her mother was for Marie - Therese a very thereapeutic experience.

She never knew her father but believes he is from a farming background in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare and would like to contact him. His name is Michael D'arcy, whom she was told by her mother, went to Dublin in his teens.

Marie-Therese is believed to be staging the longest-ever continuous protest outside the Dail. She would be grateful for any support from the general public................................................................................. If you are interested, you can please e-mail,................in light of the coming May/June 2007 general election, the government will need to be more attuned to the electorate.............It would be most appreciative. thanking you. 

Main Contact Details for the Departments are as follows.

NB. The Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern & Education & Science, Minister, Mary Hanafin, are the two kingpin players.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Postal Address:
Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2
E-mail: webmaster@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 353 1 619 4000
Lo-Call Number: 1890 227 227
Fax: 353 1 619 4258

Contact details for Divisions within the Department

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CORPORATE AFFAIRS
e-mail: corpaffairs@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 - 6194030
Fax:     01 - 6194259

ECONOMIC POLICY
e-mail: economicpolicy@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 - 6194046
Fax:     01 - 6622163

EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
e-mail: eu@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 - 6194123
Fax:     01 - 6621899

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
e-mail: foi@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 - 6194154
Fax:     01 - 6194257

GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE
e-mail: press.office@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 6194033
Fax:   01 - 6763302

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
e-mail: govsec@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 - 6194036
Fax:     01 - 6194267

INFORMATION SOCIETY POLICY DIVISION
e-mail: ispu@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 - 6194405 / 6194310
Fax:    01 - 6194422

INFRASTRUCTURE
e-mail: infrastructure@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 - 6194046
Fax:     01 - 6622163

INTERNAL AUDIT UNIT
e-mail: audit@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01 - 6194479

MINISTER OF STATE KITT'S OFFICE
e-mail:
Phone: 01- 6194079/80
Fax:      01- 6765757

MINISTER OF STATE TREACY'S OFFICE
e-mail:
Phone: 01- 6194309
Fax:     01- 6194476

PROTOCOL
e-mail: protocol@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01-6194433
Fax:     01-6194257

PUBLIC SERVICE MODERNISATION
e-mail: bettergov@taoiseach.gov.ie ; betterregulation@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01-6194090
Fax:     01-6194239
QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICES
e-mail: customer.service@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01- 6194116
Fax:     01- 6194258
SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP
e-mail: socialpartnership@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01-6194322
Fax:     01-6194239

SOCIAL POLICY
e-mail: socialpolicy@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01- 6194025
Fax:     01- 6622163

TAOISEACH'S PRIVATE OFFICE
e-mail: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie
Phone: 01-6194020 / 4021 / 4043
Fax:     01-6764048

Mary Hanafin TD Fianna Fáil TD for Dún Laoghaire
Minister for Education and Science
Office: Department of Education and Science, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1
Tel: 01-878 8495  Fax: 01-878 8300
E-mail: mary.hanafin@education.gov.ie  Website: www.maryhanafin.ie

Last edited by Marie-Therese O' loughlin (2006-10-20 14:57:09)

The Reformatory Schools Act certified existing voluntary institutions and religious organisations to care for juvenile offenders with public funding and inspection

1868- The Industrial Schools Act. Industrial schools were established to care for “neglected, orphaned and abandoned children.” They were run by religious orders and funded by the public.

1900- Peak of industrial schools with 8,000 children in 71 schools.

1908- TheChildren Act defined reformatories as responsible for feeding, clothing, housing and teaching young offenders and instigated annual visits by an Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools.

1919- The revolutionary Dáil established by Sinn Fein declares “It shall be the first duty of the Republic to make provision for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the children,” but doesn’t suggest an alternative to the British industrial schools.

1920- Six counties partitioned under the Northern Ireland Act.

1922- New Dáil and Seanad established under the Irish Free State Constitution.

1924- The new State’s Department of Education noted that there were more children in industrial schools in the Irish Free State than in all of the United Kingdom.

1929- The Children Act allowed destitute children to be sent to industrial schools, even if they hadn’t committed a crime.

1933- Rules governing industrial schools were updated and funding increased.

1933- The Commission of Inquiry Into Widows’ and Orphans’ Pensions found only 350 of the children in industrial schools were orphans (5.3 % of the total)

1933- Industrial schools were abolished in the UK, but not in Ireland.

1934- The Cussen Report, which investigated industrial schools, had reservations about the large number of children in care, the inadequate nature of their education, lack of local support and the stigma attached to the schools, but concluded that “ schools should remain under the management of the religious orders”.

1937- Under a new Constitution the State guaranteed to protect “the inalienable and imprescriptible rights” of the family.

1941 —The Children Act increased State funding for industrial schools.

1943- St. Josephs Industrial School in Cavan, run by the Order of Poor Clares, burnt to the ground, killing 35 girls and one elderly woman. The nuns were exonerated in the subsequent inquiry.

1944- P. Ó Muircheartaigh, the Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools reported that “the children are not properly fed,” which was “a serious indictment of the system of industrial schools run by nuns-a state of affairs that shouldn’t be tolerated in a Christian community” where there was “semi-starvation and lack of proper care and attention.” The Resident Managers of Lenaboy and Cappoquin industrial schools, both Sisters of Mercy, were dismissed for negligence and misappropriating funds, despite Church resistance. However, there were no other changes to industrial schools.

1945- The Department of Education agreed to pay industrial school teachers directly at the same rate as National School teachers.

1945- Secretary to the Department of Education wrote to the Secretary of the Dept. of Finance to denounce the “grave situation which has arisen regarding the feeding and clothing of children in industrial schools” due to “parsimony and criminal negligence”.

1945- Funding to industrial schools tripled.

1946- Rules governing industrial schools were updated and funding increased.

1946- Community pressure in Limerick, led by Councillor Martin McGuire, on the Dept. of Ed forces the release of Gerard Fogarty, 14, from Glin Industrial School after he was flogged naked with a cat of nine tails and immersed in salt water for trying to escape to his mother. A call for public inquiry into industrial schools was rejected by Minister of Education. Thomas Derrig because “it would serve no useful purpose”.

1946- Fr. Flanagan, famous founder of Boystown schools for orphans and delinquents in the US, visits Irish industrial schools. He describes them as “a national disgrace,” leading to a public debate in the Daíl and media. State and Church pressure forces him to leave Ireland.

1947- Three-year-old Michael McQualter scalded to death in a hot bath in Kyran’s Industrial School. Inquiry found school to be “criminally negligent,” but the case was not pursued by the Dept. of Education.

1948- Fr. Flanagan died of a heart attack and with him, the debate on industrial schools.

1949- Ireland declared itself the Irish Republic.

1949- Minister of Education General Mulcahey received complaints from Cork City Council about Greenmount IS. A visit is arranged (with advanced warning) and the case is dismissed.

1951- State Inspector denounced conditions of industrial schools and care of children.

1951- The Catholic Hierarchy condemned the 'Mother and Child' scheme (4 April), which provided direct funding to expectant mothers for their children; Dr Noel Browne, Minister for Health, resigns; the scheme was abandoned on 6 April.

1951- Standoff between Church and State when Church refused to provide financial records of how it has used funding in industrial schools in exchange for increased state funding.

1952- State funding to industrial schools increased.

1954- Daíl debate on Michael Flanagan, whose arm was broken while in care in Artane Industrial School. The case was dismissed as “an isolated incident”.

1955- Secretary of the Department of Education visited Daingean Industrial School, Offaly, and found that “the cows are better fed than the boys.” Nothing was done for another 16 years.

1957- Marlborough House building was condemned by the Dept. of Works as “a grave risk of loss of life.” No alterations were made, and it continued unchanged for 15 years.

1959- Minister of Education Jack Lynch received complaints about Upton School from Senator Gus Healy, the mayor of Cork. A visit was arranged (with advance warning) and the case was dismissed.

1960- Gardaí informed Archbishop McQuaid that Fr. Paul McGennis had developed pornographic films in England of children in his care in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children. McQuaid arranged for McGennis to “have treatment which was considered successful at the time” Fr. McGennis was convicted in 1997 of molesting girls in his care in Crumlin Hospital in the 1960’s.

1962- Fr. Moore, Chaplain at Artane Industrial School, complained about the abuse received by the boys in the school. The State dismissed his allegations as an exaggeration.

1963- The Bundoran Incident. Eight girls trying to escape from St. Martha’s Industrial Schooll had their heads shaved. It became a scandal when it was front-page news in a British tabloid with photos and headline, “Orphanage Horror”. A Department. of Education official visited the Mother Superior of the school to tell her “The Department was unlikely to do anything of a disciplinary nature”.

The Glin Affair. Department of Education investigated a boy who was hospitalised upon receiving facial injuries in Glin Industrial School from a Christian Brother. No action was taken.

1967- Department of Health visit Ferryhouse Industrial School, Clonmel to investigate the death of a child from meningitis. They described conditions as “a social malaise” and recommended the closure of the school.

1969- Under 2,000 children were in 29 schools. Artane Industrial School was closed.

1970- The Kennedy Report recommended closure of industrial schools, as Justice Kennedy was “appalled” by the “Dickensian and deplorable state” of industrial schools.

1971- Catholic Church in Ireland held a seminar on child care. Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy defended the role of the Church in industrial schools.

1972 —Marlborough House, Dublin closed down.

1974- Letterfrack Industrial School closed down.


1974 —Daingean Industrial School, Offaly closed down.

1976- RTE broadcasted a tribute to Bro. Joseph O’Connor, founder of the Artane Boys Band. He was subsequently proved to be a multiple rapist of boys in Artane Industrial School.

1978- A child care worker at Madonna House kidnapped a boy in his care, took him to Edinburgh and drowned him in a bath in a hotel. The Minister for Health, Charles Haughey, rejected a call for a public enquiry into the matter, stating that it “would serve no useful purpose.”

1980- A Task Force on child care services emphasised the need for child care staff training, care for children after leaving institutions and family support.

1984- Payment-per-head funding for children in care in Ireland was abolished.

1984- Department of Health introduced fostering for children in care.

1985- Children of the Poor Clares by Mavis Arnold and Heather Laskey published.

1989- The Children Act gave health boards powers to care for children.

1989- The God Squad by Paddy Doyle published.


1991- The Child Care Act gave powers to health boards to care for children who were ill-treated, neglected or sexually abused.

1991- Fear of the Collar by Patrick Touher published



1996- A conviction for sexual abuse by a worker in Trudder House, Co. Wicklow, where he worked with Traveller children throughout the 80’s.

1996- The Madonna House Report detailed continuing physical and sexual abuse of children in State and Church care. The report was suppressed by the government.

1996- Willie Delaney’s body was exhumed to investigate whether beating was the cause of the 13-year-old’ s death in 1970 while in care at Letterfrack Industrial School. The results were inconclusive.


1997 —Dear Daughter was broadcast on RTE. Christine Buckley’s description of her abuse while under care in Goldenbridge sparks public debate on industrial schools.

1998- The Christian Brothers in Ireland make a public apology to those who were physically or sexually abused in their care.

1999- States of Fear by Mary Raftery and Eoin O’Sullivan was broadcast on RTE in April and May, renewing debate on industrial schools

1999 —Suffer the Little Children by Mary Raftery and Eoin O’Sullivan published


1999- Freedom of Angels by Bernadette Fahy published



1999- An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern apologised on behalf of the government to the victims of child abuse in industrial schools, acknowledging the responsibility of the Irish State in providing services for children. A Commission to Inquire Into Childhood Abuse was established under Justice Laffoy, which became official under the Child Abuse Act, 2000



2000- The Child Abuse Act established a commission to investigate child abuse in institutions in the State, and to enable persons to give evidence to committees of the Commission.

2000- Focus Ireland publication, Left Out On Their Own, reported serious deficiencies in residential care. They found 75% of those leaving Health Board Care experience homelessness within the first two years of leaving.

2001- Catholic Church agreed to pay over £100 million into a special State fund for victims of abuse. In return, the State arranged that people seeking compensation from the Residential Institutions Redress Board are barred from suing the Church directly. Only victims of sexual, not physical, abuse are eligible for compensation.

5 days later, Justice Kelly described the juvenile justice system as “a shambles and chaotic” after being forced to send a disturbed and neglected child into a psychiatric hospital, due to lack of alternative accommodation.

2002 - An independent inquiry condemned conditions in Finglas Children’s Home, and recommended either change or closure. Arson attack on school.

The number of children committed to industrial schools by the Courts steadily declined from 833 at the time that the Irish Republic was declared in 1949 to merely 162 in 1968-69, when the industrial schools began to be closed down.

The overwhelming cause of committal was “lack of proper guardianship.” Only a small number were committed for inadequate school attendance, indictable offences and homelessness.

Sources: Suffer the Little Children( by Mary Raftery and Eoin O’Sullivan); This Great Little Nation (Gene Kerrigan and Pat Brennan); Ireland Politics and Society, 1912-1985 (Joseph Lee); Ireland Since the Famine (FS Lyons) Victim and Critic: Child Mistreatment in Ireland ( Mary Killion)




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1951- The Catholic Hierarchy condemned the 'Mother and Child' scheme (4 April), which provided direct funding to expectant mothers for their children; Dr Noel Browne, Minister for Health, resigns; the scheme was abandoned on 6 April............................. As a result a lot of us needlessly suffered, myself included.