Showing posts with label letter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label letter. Show all posts

Letter to my MP on the failure of UK Parliament to uphold International Humanitarian Law and the interests of Peace.


The facts laid out in a meme.


The Undemining of Peace, by a pro-War activist Lawyer (the persecutor of Julian Assange)



To Gareth Thomas, MP


Following the clearly adversarial approach of Labour and Conservatives this Wednesday last, in the UK Parliament in Westminster, London, an approach that disabled the SNP Opposition Day Motion calling for an 'immediate ceasefire in Gaza', and the 'ending of the collective punishment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli State', a reasonable motion by all standards, and then replaced it with a watered down, conditional motion that sought to avoid a 'rebellion' within the Labour Party back benches, a move that does not serve the interests of Peace, but instead protects the interests of Israeli Military State, and Keir Starmer’s clearly undemocratic leadership of the Labour Party, I write to you to, respectfully, to demand that the Labour Co-operative MPs who are genuinely active in seeking Peace  and Justice step away from the Labour Party.


The same Labour Party that has repeatedly refused to hold Tony Blair et al to account for their War crimes, even when we had the evidence before us.


The country re-elected him in 2005. The country failed in it’s basic duty of care.


Since then both Labour and Conservatives  have launched or supported a series of amoral Wars in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere and have ordered Military action beyond our borders, in contravention of the Laws of War.


This means, in real terms, that the Parties and Parliament are de facto War Criminal Entities that remain unindicted.


This failure has led directly to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, in that Russia used false claims similar to the way Blair et al have done, with the real politick understanding that in practice International Law does not apply to the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council.


The obvious hypocrisy of the different stances the UK Government has taken in relation to that War and all the other wars mentioned above is now clear, and presents a constant threat to world peace and co-operation.  


It is worth noting that in a world that permits and enables warfare, the co-operation required to meet the challenges of Climate Disruption is not possible.


You must understand, as a member of a co-operative, that mutual aid is an essential component of developing healthy policy and that the adversarial dynamics of the current Govt. vs Opposition run counter to the meaning of healthy governance.


With that in mind, I am calling on you to uphold Humanitarian Law and International Law and the Laws prohibiting War.


Jeremy Corbyn in 2015 indicated that he would, if he gained the position of Prime Minister, order that War Crimes Investigations be initiated.


That was the primary (unspoken) reason for the Establishments vicious slanderous attack upon him, and upon the pro-peace policies he supported. 


That was driving emotional reaction behind the internal Blairite Campaign within Labour to undermine his leadership.


That Campaign succeeded, because Labour MPs and Members refused to stand up for International Law. 


Blair walks free, on a healthy state pension. He is amassing a large fortune as a direct result of all of this.


That failure is unacceptable, intolerable and utterly repugnant.


Please confirm that you will move to uphold International Law, distance yourself and your Party from these abject War criminals and stand with the peaceful people of Earth in your role as a politician, as a community leader and as an official whose wages we pay.


I advise you that my future, your future and all our children’s futures would be better served were you to align with the Green Party and all other genuine progressives and work to hold the war criminals to account, be they British, Russian, Syrian, Ukrainian or Israeli, or any other.


Failure to respond positively to this request will place you in a position that history will deem adverse the the interests of the people, and of peace.


Kindest regards

Corneilius

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Why Ireland needs a judicial public inquiry into historical child sexual predatory abuse within Boarding Schools, Day Schools.

Open letter to Irish Government, Churches and Media
~
Why Ireland needs a judicial public inquiry into historical child sexual predatory abuse within Boarding Schools, Day Schools.




As a child of Ireland, a ward of guardians, I was placed in five Irish Catholic boarding schools over a 11 year period, from 1966 through to 1977. 

A convent boarding school, an elite preparatory school, an Irish speaking school, a reformatory boarding school, another Irish speaking school.

I was subjected to predatory abuse within all these schools. I was utterly alone. I had no advocates, no protectors, I told no one. It was quite awful, all the time. I became habituated to that state. That was my normal. A child of Ireland. I fled Ireland aged 19.

I have endured the adverse effects of cPTSD for all my adult life.  I had always thought I was the problem. Shame, self loathing, narcissism, a tendency to be a bully, paranoia, sleep problems, always over compensating, never good enough. In my heart and mind, a darkness lurked. 

This has impacted all my adult relationships, adversely. I accept my part in all of that. I also understand the symptoms of years of chronic exposure to abuse as they present as behaviour. 

I am in counselling.

I know for sure that I am not an outlier, a unique and rare case. 

I was a child alone, as were so many others, who will remain countless until we find out how many were predated upon by men and women who got away with it, more or less, courtesy of the power of the Institutions.

Survivors deserve honesty, justice and reparation, support and recognition, kindness and respect.

This Inquiry could have been suggested in 1992.  There were already enough proven cases and allegations known to the Government of Ireland and to the Churches to justify same.

What harms have fallen upon survivors in the past 30 years, as a result?

Ireland, as a State and a people,  must avoid  repeating that failure to act in a timely manner.

We need a full Public Inquiry covering all State and Religious run schools across Ireland, where any allegations of predatory abuse have ever emerged since commencement of the State. 

We must start with judicial oversight, with open verified access to all religious order data and papers related to predatory abuse mandated, as a means to meet the needs of Survivors. 

The State and Institutions know what they knew. Survivors do not. That is an inequitable disparity. 

And that is the problem that only a Judicial Public Inquiry can resolve. Timely in this instance means complete the task, look at and appraise the full extent of the child predation, bullying, the violence and psychological abuse, hold accountable those who are accountable, make reparations and design a schooling system, a cultural environment that prevents all of that from ever happening again.

Every child of Ireland deserves nothing less than that, past and present.

Corneilius Crowley







Kindest regards

Corneilius

Thank you for reading this blog.

"Do what you love, it is your gift to universe."

This blog, like all my other content creation work is not monetised via advertising. If you like what I present, consider sharing my content. If you can afford the price of a cup of coffee or a pint of beer/ale/cider for a few months, please donate via my Patreon account.

https://patreon.com/corneilius - donations gratefully received

https://www.reverbnation.com/corneilius - .mp3 songs

https://www.soundcloud.com/coreluminous - .wav Songs

https://www.corneilius.net - Archive

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#singersongwriter
#blogger
#music

Letter : We should be grateful to Survivors who have spoken out.

A Chara,

The recent arrests of three men accused of sexual abuse of children at Carrignavar Boarding School reveals what has been studiously avoided by so many, that abuse was just as prevalent in fee paying boarding schools as it was in Industrial Schools. I know, as I attended five 'elite' fee paying Catholic boarding schools for 12 years.

Perhaps the reasons for this avoidance are two fold.

There are some who went to those schools, who were abused, though not sexually, and who to this day would claim that the experience made them the men they are today.

The second reason might be that some of these alumni of the 'better sort of boarding school' have been or are still in positions of power and prestige, and their lack of self empathy might affect their willingness to face the truth of their own experience, let alone the truth of Survivors testimony.

Perhaps it also affected and still affects their decision making in other areas, especially with regard to Governance, in that a lack of self empathy runs concurrent with a lack of empathy for others.

It is clear to all and sundry that Irish Governance has demonstrated a clear lack of empathy for the people of Ireland for a long time.

Perhaps the courage of Survivors who have spoken out, even when others have refused to accept their testimony, might be seen as part of the healing of Irish society, leading us all towards greater empathy.

We should be grateful.


Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe

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Open Letter to ALL Irish Presidential Candidates

Open Letter to ALL Irish Presidential Candidates

info@michaeldhiggins.ie

mary@marydavis.ie

info@danaforpresident.ie

together@seangallagher.com

admin@thepeoplespresident.ie – Martin McGuinness

Gay Mitchell, via his website email


Info@davidnorris4president.com


October 2011

A Chara,

One of the most important issues for Irish Society as a whole, a thread that runs through almost every issue, is the welfare and safety of our children.

I write as an interested Irish Citizen and as a Survivor.

The question is this : Is Ireland a safe place for ALL the children, and are their futures being protected and nurtured in ways that will meet all their natural needs as growing people, who will in turn become the adults who craft their society?

With this in mind, we can consider the following issues : Institutional Abuse, Historical Trauma, The Environment, State Education, Spirituality, Ethics….

The story of Institutional Abuse is no-where near resolving itself. Out of 26 Dioceses, over a two decades of Survivors witness Testimony and action in the courts and elsewhere, only 4 have ‘reported’ on this, and none of these have been fully comprehensive, nor have we seen a full and frank disclosure by the State or by The Church as to the extent of the abuse culture, the identification of perpetrators nor are there reliable support services in place with a proven track record of healing trauma.

Even still there is resistance to what is needed here, from the Church, from within various State Institutions and from within the community at large, especially those who have allegiances to the Church, and those who in one way or another share some responsibility for the neglect of Survivors.

Historical trauma (HT) is cumulative emotional and psychological wounding, over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma.

Sinead O’Connor alluded to this in her song ‘Famine’. There is clear evidence that suggests the corruption and dysfunction in Irish Society has some of it’s roots in Historical Trauma. This is not to provide and excuse for abuse, though it is a call to evoke an understanding of the dynamics and roots of dysfunctional behaviours so as to heal and to prevent further dysfunction.

The Office of Irish President is a public voice from which this element of the story of the Irish people could be advocated, indeed it ought to be a primary concern, given the massive failures of DeValera, and subsequent Presidents in this regard.

As regards the Environment, that is to say the space within which our children’s children will live, it’s clear that there is much work to be done to bring to an end the massive use of pesticides, herbicides, pollutants, NKP fertilisers, the use of non-renewable ‘resources’ and the re-habilitation of land use and occupation. To the degree that all these affect the welfare of children, such as the presence of DDT in mothers breast milk, the presence of pesticides in the foetus these activities could be described as child abuse.

As regards State Education, we have to look at the homogenisation of childhood experience, the processes of indoctrination, secular or religious, and the fact that whilst many do benefit, so many more do not benefit, because Compulsory State Education is not geared to respond to the natural variation and diversity of children’s behaviour and perception, and that it undermines their natural autonomy by refusing to afford them opportunities to develop that autonomy. The use of Ritalin and other similar ‘medications’ is clearly adverse to children’s welfare.

To tell an adult what to think, with sanctions applied for any reasonable dissent, is rightfully felt or sensed by all adults as abusive. Why then is it the case that this is considered appropriate for children?

And with regard to Spirituality and Ethics, unless empathy lies at the core of both these areas, they become adverse to the health of any community.

The behaviour of the Church reveals this to be the case. There are, of course many other examples of this adversity – fraud, corruption in politics, war as a tool of State policy etc etc…

I write to you to ask that you declare your views on these crucial matters, aware that you will have no statuary power as such, compared to the Dail and the Legislature, yet nonetheless you will have a platform from which to urge change, to inspire a deeper and more relevant discourse, and that this ought to be your primary concern and responsibility in your role as President of The Irish State, as a statesperson representing the hopes and concerns of the Irish people at home and abroad, noting that you will of course, be remunerated by the Irish taxpayer.

Yours sincerely

Corneilius Crowley
3 Sherwood Road,
South Harrow
London HA2 8AW




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Irish Childline reports 2,300 contacts per day

Irish Child Line, a charity that receives calls from distressed children, released it's figures for 2010, and quotes an average of 2,300 calls or messages per day, from children all over Ireland.

This was reported in Irish Media. It's meaning, however, has not been addressed as of yet.

I wrote the following letter to Irish Media to suggest that it must be addressed.

-----------


To The Editor,

The release of the child-line figures demonstrates, once again, that there are endemic, long term problems within Irish Society which reveal an almost cultural lack of empathy, for children, for the vulnerable, and for the distressed.

The manner in which successive Irish Governments have indemnified both itself, as The State, and the Church, with regard to the horrific abuses perpetrated within State and Church Institutions, and outside, demonstrates that lack of empathy.

The North Cork Ten case and the DPP's unwillingness to prosecute demonstrates that lack of empathy. Happily, the campaign by 'ordinary Irish Citizens' to demand that the DPP prosecute demonstrates that there are some people in Ireland whose empathy is intact.

The Christy Smith case demonstrates yet again a systemic lack of empathy in many State Institutions.

Rachel Peavoy's death, earlier this year, and the inquest into her death, and it's 'findings', reveals this systemic, institutional lack of empathy.

The 'rape' jokes by 4 Corrib Bay Shell Gardai last month, and the mistreatment of the people of Corrib Bay that has continued for so many years, reveals that lack of empathy.

The willingness of the Irish Government to force the Irish People to pay the Debts of the Gambling Bankers shows that lack of empathy.

There are people all over Ireland who will tell you, were you to give them an ear, that the beatings and humiliation they experienced in school did not, and does not strengthen their character.

And there are those who will tell you, that yes, 'it made a man of me', there are people in positions of Power who will say that their school experience of 40 years ago was character forming, and who will find it difficult to empathise with those whose experience was traumatic.

Only when honesty and empathy prevails in all institutions of Power, and thus flows forth throughout Irish Society, and is met by the same at the grass roots, will the Irish People be in a position to provide for their children a future that is decent, abundant, balanced and above all psychologically healthy.

It's a worthy cause, indeed it's the only worthy cause.


Kindest regards

Corneilius Crowley
London


The facts are that the vast majority of abused children never tall anyone, and it is often only in adult life that they reveal what they have been through, after years of trying to just live day by day, tormented by the trauma, the shame, the self-blame .... often it is only when things have broken down to such an extent that the adult Survivor seeks 'professional help' which leads to their disclosure.

What makes it more difficult,if it wasn't already intensely difficult, for Survivors is this sense of isolation, of failure, of being judged by others,that comes from not 'performing' according to Societies messages - jobs, money, goods etc etc.....

There's also the fact that Childline says that 1/3rd of the calls went unanswered. We need more data on this. Childline should provide that data to those who can properly analyse it.

The figures will not go down until there is 100% honesty, and with that empathy, for survivors and also an understanding of the dynamics of intergenerational trauma patterning amongst the general population. This is what I am working for.

My first concern is always with the survivors, and that requires that the general population gain more understanding of the dynamics of abuse, of survival, so that the understand when Survivors 'present' symptoms that they must not judge the survivor..... when that is in place, and is deepening with Society at large, then we can deal with the full implications for those Institutions and for those who abuse children, whatever the manner or form that abuse takes.

I fear that too much attention is focussed on the institutions, be it to confront them or to protect them, and that the first duty is to make safe those who have been harmed.... I also feel strongly that there are some 'activists' whose work on the face of it appears to support Survivors, yet in reality fails to address the points I have made above, and if anything polarises the issue, driving people away from a deeper comprehension.

This worries me muchly. That is not to say that the confrontation must not proceed, but that it needs to be fully complemented by that which makes safe the survivors. It is not OK to me, at least, that Survivors are suffering whilst the arguments rage back and forth. Some will die, often by their own hand, out of sheer frustration and desperation ....

And many more will continue to live fragmented, broken, pain filled lives and this grieves me deeply.

I am in my self reasonably happy, and can to a certain degree, bear this grief, I refuse to shut myself off from it. It's there, it's real and it informs my work as much as my anger and my love....



Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe







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Letter to Media concerning Patronage of Irish Schools :

http://www.independent.ie/education/latest-news/church-shocked-by-quinn-plan-for-schools-2598203.html

To the Editor

In a recent article published in the Irish Independent "Church 'shocked' by Quinn plan for schools"  about the Irish Minister For Educations setting up of a forum to examine the sponsoring and patronage of Schools in Ireland, Dr John Murray, director of pro-family organisation The Iona Institute, was quoted as follows: "While we welcome the setting up of this forum, we call on the minister to respect the autonomy of whatever number of Catholic and other denominational schools remain after this process is completed.

"This means guaranteeing the admissions policy of those schools, their employment policy, and also that they can teach whatever is compatible with their beliefs."


As a Survvior, as a parent and as a long-time advocate of the Rights of Children, I find it utterly repugnant that Religious Belief is in any way imposed upon children.


The recent deposition by German Lawyers to the International Criminal Court charging Pope Benedict with Crimes Against Humanity cited Baptism of Defenceless Children and the consequent imposition of the Doctrine of Original Sin as one of the three actions they determined as  Crimes Against Humanity.


They consider these actions as a psychological imposition upon the child. Others have called it the colonisation of the childs mind.


It is time that The Catholic Religion accepted that entrance into their Faith must be a conscious choice, not an imposition by parents or the Church. Children are not the possessions of their Parents, to do with as they will. Their souls are not the posessions of the Church, as held in days of old, when Papal Bulls mandated the actions of Colonial Power.


If the Catholic Religious are confident of their Faith, then their example, in their behaviour towards people and Society, ought to be enough to guarantee continued support and participation.

Sad to say their example thus far fails in all respects to honour the rights of the child, the rights of Survivors and the meaning and intent of the Sermon on The Mount.

Yours sincerely

Corneilius Crowley

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe







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‘No record’ of how Cork charity spent state funds : Irish Examiner, my response


A Chara,

With regard to Right of Place, we are seeing a problematic lack of transparency similar to that of the Catholic Church Bureaucracy, past Irish Governments, and others involved in the Residential Schools horror story.
...
This is in stark contrast to the open-ness of many Survivors, who have had to deal with an unwillingness to believe them, fear and ridicule, intimidation and, not least, the adverse affects of what they endured.

Let it be said that those who deny, turn their backs on the story, or for whatever reason feel fearful of facing the truth, have not and will not suffer anything like the Survivors themselves if they face the truth.

Right of Place and others in similar positions must be made 100% transparent and be subject to adequate oversight.

Their staff must be subject to the same oversight, and also rigorously checked for their backgrounds and expertise in this area of supporting Survivors.

Failure in this is an abdication of duty of care, and will inevitably lead to the totally avoidable re-traumatising of those who need all the support and nurturance that Irish Society can generate.

Yours etc

Corneilius Crowley

Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe

Letter published 19th March 2011 : http://www.examiner.ie/opinion/letters/church-must-be-open-with-abuse-survivors-148683.html




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21st Century Democracy and Ireland

Letter sent to Irish Media folowing the election in Ireland..

A Chara

The mandate of the People of Ireland is not necessarily the mandate upon which Fine Gael will form a Government.

Enda Kenny’s declaration that the ‘Irish Revolution’ is a Democratic Revolution, unlike that of the Revolutions sweeping North Africa and elsewhere, which he typified as ‘taking to the streets’ was more PR than a reflection of the Irish People’s genuine concerns for their past, their present and their futures.

Fine Gael  has not been given a majority, and their success is less a mandate, than a vote of no-confidence in Fianna Fail.

This is not successful democracy. Successful Democracy, in 21st Century terms, is when the will, intent and decisions of the people are expressed in the daily actions of Government, when the people lead the Government.

As we have seen in the past, Irish Political Leadership, be it the ruling parties or the opposition parties, has lacked the courage to hold the Irish State, The Church and Corporations such as Shell to account.

If those who form this next Irish Government do not act so as to demand that accountability, if they do not move forwards in the just and reasonable demands for Restorative Justice from Survivors of Institutional and Clerical abuse, and others who have been oppressed and neglected by successive Irish Governments, such as the people of Corrib Bay, the children who were exposed to Vaccine trials in Institutional settings, the elderly placed in privatised and ill-regulated for-profit ‘care’, tax payers coerced into paying the gambling debts of investment bankers, and many, many more, then what will be left to the Irish People except to take to the streets?

Enda Kenny’s leadership MUST be as a spokesman for the Irish people, and not as a Ruler.

Irish eyes will be watching, very closely.


Kindest regards

Corneilius Crowley

Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe







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Irish Bishops : Symbolism or Action?


This is a letter I sent out today to Irish and UK Media.
To the Editor,
Regarding the THE CATHOLIC Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin and the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston Seán O’Malley, who washed the feet of a carefully selected group Survivors of clerical child sex abuse in “an act of humble service” at Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral, this Sunday February 20th.
This is nothing less than a Roman Catholic Version of 'green-washing'; only direct action by the Church to hand over to the Public Prosecutor all abuser priests, all files relating to allegations made by Survivors, all files related to the Churches private canonical 'investigations' (redacted as required to protect the interests of Survivors, subject to their approval), all files related to various private agreements between the Church Officials and State, Health and Welfare Officials, and Police Officials, and to offer up their wealth and resources to help Survivors, and finally and importantly to let Survivors speak out, as freely as required, that and nothing else.
Action is required, not symbolism. Once the action has been complete, let the symbols of that action be created to inspire a future where the rights of the child, as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on The Rights of The Child, are, in material terms, at the very heart of our Society.

Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe

Here's a  video of The Silent Protest by Survivors outside the Catherdral in Dublin, after the Mass...

The Letter was published in the Irish Independent on 27th February 2011... 
















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Are we a grown-up, responsible people .......... Letter to Irish Media.

Are we a grown-up, responsible people capable of managing ourselves with integrity and intelligence?” is the key.

(this piece was written as a response to some of the more divisive, angry and potentially abusive postings on the net with regard to the current situation in Ireland. I beleive it appplies across the Earth...)

If we are, then we don’t leave it to others – WE get involved, at the local level, and we reject the concept of being ruled, of Governance being in POWER.

We take our responsibilities towards OUR Society seriously.

We find ways to discuss, to... share information, we find ways to avoid squabbling and acting out our anger, wats to utilise that anger so it’s energy is directed towards creativity, we find time to create understanding, empathy and common ground that includes diversity, that finds ways to integrate the diverse as a pool of information and insight towards the goal of managing our country together.

Some might say it’s a lot to ask for. Well it’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure, Not as easy as voting, and sitting back, doing bugger all and handing over taxes as payment for services – we cannot afford to be mere consumers of political ideologies, of our favourite and most liked personal prejudices….

We need to mature.

We need to start and we need to be courageous enough to do this, knowing that while we don’t have all the answers, we can find them, test them and move forwards as a Society.

I am saying that we have to be aware of how our own anger and our vulnerability can be used against us; how we can be triggered by the abusers, who KNOW our vulnerabilities well.. and do exploit them - look at the Redress Board and how they took an adversarial approach to witnesses - that adversarial approach was designed to exploit known vulnerabilities of Survivors, to create hesitation in their statements and thus to sow doubt about their testimony.

Look at how unresolved anger is triggered by propaganda. These processes are known and understood by Power and used to great and unfortunately lethal effect - eg: Afghanistan and Iraq and anti-muslim propganda, or anti-imigrant propganda.

Forgiveness, if it is to occur, can only be on the basis of true remorse on the part of the perpetrators, with reparations and restorative justice actualised, in material terms, and can only be offered by those who suffered as individuals, and is more importantly to be seen as a way of enabling Survivors release themselves from the pain, shame, confusion and anger they feel.

A shorter version of this was also sent out to Irish Media, and was published in the Irish Independent on February 1st 2011.



Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's Your Gift to Universe




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