Secular schools would be a step too far

AT LAST, a Commission of Investigation will examine historical sexual abuse claims in day- and boarding schools between the 1960s and ’90s.

This comes on foot of a scoping enquiry published last week containing almost 2,400 allegations of historical sexual abuse recorded in 308 schools run by religious orders across Ireland. The 700-page report revealed that claims were made against 884 alleged abusers in schools run by 42 religious orders.

Let’s be clear – no stone should be left unturned to bring those responsible for destroying the lives of children to justice. Age or infirmity should not be used as an excuse to allow those responsible to escape justice.

There is no excuse for what these people did. None. I don’t care that Ireland was a completely different country back then, and views and opinions varied greatly from what they are today. Only those guilty of committing such heinous crimes use such excuses, because there is no excuse or justification for the pain and suffering these people inflicted on vulnerable young children.

Over the years, I have had the sad role of interviewing some survivors of child sexual abuse. They were adults when I spoked to them, but the pain in their eyes was obvious for anyone to see.

It didn’t matter that the abuse had been committed 20, 30 or 40 years previously – they relived the pain each and every day of their lives. Some were barely getting through the day, others were not. And no amount of financial compensation was enough to make up for what they lost.

I refer to financial retribution because that’s what everyone who was not abused calls for. The religious orders responsible should pay up, and the government should pay up, too, because it failed these young people. But money was way down the list of priorities for all of the people I interviewed.

What they wanted most was recognition that the Church and state had done them wrong. They wanted someone to listen to them, someone who would not judge them. But most of all, they wanted to look their abusers in the eye and ask them why they did what they did, even though many of the victims knew that after all these years they probably would not be strong enough to go into court and pose those questions.

We all have nightmares and can still remember some of those we experienced as a child. But they were only nightmares that came every so often. Can you just imagine the torment these victims endured 24 hours a day, each and every day of their young lives, and the trauma they had to carry, even when they got free of the clutches of such vile and evil people.

When this scandal began to unfold many years ago, I still remember the haste with which various religious orders sought legal protection. If only the same could have happened for their victims. But as we all know, there are times – far too many – when it appears the perpetrators of crime enjoy more protection from the law than the victims.

Thankfully, now that a Commission of Investigation is to be established, there will be no place for religious orders to hide. They will have to hand over whatever documentation they have and will not be able to cherry pick what they think is all anyone is entitled to know about that sorry chapter in Irish life.

As I previously stated, there is no justification for what was done to these children. However, I am not one of those who believes there should be a complete separation between Church and state when it comes to education.

Last week, many people were calling for the Church to have absolutely no role in the education of children in this country. I don’t agree. I am a product of such an education system. The nuns first taught me – kept late on a Friday for extra tuition in reading and spelling – then I went to The Brothers (the Christian Brothers) and was later taught by priests and non-cleric teachers.

I know I am one of the lucky ones. While there were times when I experienced the firm hand of a teacher, I can honestly say that none went too far – and while I was also a boarder where late-night supervision was carried out by priests, none ever acted in an inappropriate manner towards me or anyone else that I could see.

I don’t agree with blanket bans. Yes, I did experience a firm hand, but to this day I can remember seeing one fellow student get the living daylights bet out of him – and it wasn’t by a member of the clergy.

Schools today are completely different from back in my day, and rightly so. They are places of learning, where the children actually enjoy going to. They have become a safe place for little people – sometimes the only safe place they enjoy.

There are still many things wrong in Irish society. And while it is necessary to go after those who ruined the lives of others, it is also important to remember that not every member of a religious order back then, or today, is the enemy.