David and Mark Ryan (Mark unexpectedly passed away in September 21st 2023, RIP)
This is an open letter to Irish politicians, Irish media and others regarding the matter of a Public Inquiry into the history of Sexual Abuse of Children in Irish Schools since the inception of the state, as a democratic republic. It is worth noting to readers that the first Government level report into the sexual abuse of children in Irish Schools was
The Carrigan Report of 1931. Here is a
2004 article looking at this matter and the fact that this report was suppressed, for political reasons, for religious reasons and for social and economic reasons.
As regards the Government of Ireland current stance : Mark Vincent Healy is concerned that it is an ethically bankrupt process in that even as it asks Survivors to present their experience and evidence, it has not made adequate provision for the care and welfare Survivors need. The reality is the state financial, psychological and material support for previous Survivors groups, following the 6 Inquiries already done, is less than complete. It really should not be so.
I share his concern.
My letter is sent out to an email list Mark Vincent has generated as part of Survivors voicing our concerns. Mark Vincent has been active for at least 15 years in advocacy for his own case, and our cause.
I have such a deep respect for every Survivor who has ever spoken out, every Survivor that has made such efforts to have their stories told, heard and understood, in order to ensure Justice prevails.
The immensity of the task of any individual, or small group of individuals to confront the two most powerful institutions in Ireland is a Sisyphean demand. We deserve the full active support of the entire population, backing us up, all the time, until full justice is restored, and peace can abide in the land.
I would not be in the position I am today, I would not have had the access to help, the level of understanding I have of myself without the work of previous survivors and advocates, thousands of people who have done a huge amount of work on the issue of child abuse, trauma, recovery over many decades.
I truly stand on the shoulders of giants. I am so fortunate, and am well aware that so many were not so lucky as I, and that many still face insurmountable difficulties in their own personhood and their lives as a direct result of child abuse.
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Good Morning,
1. I am a Survivor, whose life has been adversely impacted by sexual assault, psychological and emotional abuse, physical abuse and neglect of my needs during 12 years spent in 5 Irish Boarding Schools, between 1965 and 1977. Thus I can speak to the culture within the entire system in that period. it was far from healthy and safe for children. All the adults knew this.
I have written you a number of times on this matter.
I attended the funeral of Mark Ryan, may he rest in peace, in London and the memorial held for him in Dublin.
I read the poem, 'We will Remember' on both occasions.
His sudden passing came as a deep shock, as he, I and others were looking forwards to continuing the task of informing a Public Inquiry, and completing the task of advocating for Justice for all survivors of depraved and extended abuse within the Boarding Schools and Day Schools of Ireland - we were innocents, whose needs as children went unmet, and today we are adults whose needs remain unmet.
The toll chronic childhood trauma takes imposes a burden that is now well understood, though not well met.
2. The Ministers eulogy was appropriately toned, and reflected the genuine compassion and kindness that Mark Ryan brought to this process.
3. Colm O' Gorman's eulogy expressed in the clearest terms the social and cultural and societal realities. Our plight and condition was known, and we were abandoned to a toxic legacy, not a matter of fate, so much as a matter of cover-ups. We were cast aside. The Church and State turned a blind eye, and lied. Irish society lied to itself.
|  | Colm O’ Gorman eulogy at Mark Ryan’s Memorial |
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I invite you to reflect upon the following :
"The psychology of any given family, community or culture is both revealed and perpetuated in how they relate to and treat the most vulnerable among them. Change that and you can change everything."
I suggest that we integrate it into our thinking and action on this matter.
3. We survivors are not 'Victims', we were victimised.
That is a statement of clarity.
Every time I read the word 'victim' as a descriptive of myself I recoil in anger and revulsion. I did nothing wrong and any passivity on my part was simply a matter of the vast power disparity between me and the adults who abused me. I was not predestined to be or had any predisposition to adopt the category of victim. I was victimised.
4. I see a change in Irish Society, wrought over the past three to four decades by Survivors from various residential care settings operated by the Church with oversight and funding from the State, advocated for Justice often opposed by Church and State, and others. Systems that were commercial operations, generating wealth for the Church and it's congregations.
I do not see that change coming from within the Church. The defensive, adversarial stance of the congregations involved remains toxic.
I do not see that change coming from the State - I do not see either entity putting up their hands, admitting the fullness of the crimes committed, offering to release all documentation required to write an honest history as part of a sturdy, robust process of Justice, Accountability, Reparation let alone 'healing'.
5. I read history from the perspective of examining the lived experience of the most vulnerable with regard to how their lives are affected and indeed afflicted by the decisions of the most powerful. You might consider what that means, in terms of honesty, empathy, accuracy.
6. Recent offers of a Restorative Justice appear to be manipulative rather than genuine efforts, even as Survivors and their friends best intentions and most fervent hopes were embedded in the process. That manipulative attitude has generated divisions within Survivor groups, divisions that on reflection meet the criteria of 'divide and rule'. There is no external review of this process that can assess it fairly.
7. The work of the Scoping Inquiry team, and in particular the Survivor Engagement process which gathered testimony from hundreds of Survivors, proceeds.
While it proceeds, Survivors needs remain unmet.
Mark Vincent Healy has been explicit on this. He speaks from long experience, supporting and advocating for vulnerable survivors for over a decade.
The offer of three counselling sessions, rather than open ended support of that kind for as long as each survivor requires, is clearly inadequate.
And there is the question of economic support for Survivors.
8. The Scoping Inquiry team employed to take submissions from Survivors understand that they are taking a small sample, a point repeatedly made by Mark Vincent Healy.
9. Nonetheless, given the depth of the information and insight the interview team have been given by Survivors, they have asked for more time to assess that material - to ensure an exacting and detailed analysis be carried out, by experts in the field, to present a report to Government to accurately inform the decision making that will determine the terms of reference and task of a future Public Inquiry.
10. Most Survivors I am in touch with understand that it must be a Judicial Level Inquiry that has real power to hold the Schools and their operators to account, has the power to request documents, call witnesses before it, under perjury notice. The whole truth, nothing but the truth.
11. Mark Ryan did not get the full support he deserved. None of us have. David Ryan, his brother is not getting the full support he deserves. None of the Survivors who attended his funeral and his memorial are getting the support they need and deserve. Thousands of others today and many tens of thousands of children who were routinely abused in the most depraved manner over the last 70 years never got the support and care they deserved.
That must be corrected. We know that the ACE study and others have provided ample scientific and medical evidence that repeated trauma, multiple adverse childhood experiences, is a leading cause of early death in Survivors.
12. As one Survivor put it, speaking from within a counselling group: "We should not be friends. Our bond as Survivors is there only because we were victimised, and that should never have happened."
Eulogies for the lost can be moving and comforting, yet they are inadequate to the current needs of living Survivors - we need and indeed we deserve so much more than words.
13. We need and demand concrete action to support us, we need and demand concrete action to record the true history of what was done to us, and how the adverse impacts of that flowed through our bodies, our hearts and minds, and how it percolated through Irish Society - it did not 'happen', it was done - to so many children, for so long.
"The psychology of any given family, community or culture is both revealed and perpetuated in how they relate to and treat the most vulnerable among them. Change that and you can change everything."
Make the changes we need, and do it with robust commitment. We will continue to advocate for our case, even as we face the very real possibility of early deaths that might preclude our being there when Justice is delivered in full.
Kindest Regards
Corneilius Crowley, London.
