A chara,
"The psychology of a culture is both revealed and sustained in how they relate to and treat the most vulnerable among them. Change that and we can change everything."
I grew up in 5 Boarding Schools, from age 6 to 17, during the 1960s and 1970s. I am a Survivor.
Today November 7th, 2023, marks the first anniversary of the RTE radio documentary, ‘Blackrock Boys’, driven by the courageous testimony of Survivors David and Mark Ryan amid efforts by a small group of Blackrock alumni and Survivors to extract a public apology from The Spiritans.
The Carrigan Report of 1931, commissioned by the Irish Government, indicated the scale of sexual abuse of children across the country at that time. That report was suppressed.
Close to a century of suppression (of the true scale of the problem of sexual abuse of children) maintained by both Church and State has caused unspeakable harm.
Because of public outrage in response to the Blackrock Boys documentary the Government was impelled to commit to carrying out a Public Inquiry, which Survivors of boarding schools and day schools had been calling for, for decades. Those delays have cost lives.
The Government set out a scoping inquiry to record the testimony of a small sample of Survivors, be presented to Government today, to help define the terms of reference and the powers of that Public Inquiry. The term used was ‘a survivor led process’.
The team collating that evidence have requested more time to analyse that evidence and draft a report that accurately reflects the meaning and importance of that evidence. They have been granted an extension to June 2024.
Today, as I write, we Survivors (and you must know there are living Survivors struggling with life within your own constituency) have no materialised support for our most immediate need let alone our long term end of life needs, as vulnerable as we are, as we approach the process of a Public Inquiry.
We humbly request that the State meets those needs now, before it’s too late.
Please lend your ear to our voices when we ask for our unmet needs to be met.
Support all survivors, in a meaningful material and determined fashion.
We deserve no less.
Corneilius
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