I miss politicians who just knew what was proper

Donogh O’Malley is remembered in an advert

of the women, who took a High Court case in 2016, was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement after she was offered a settlement of over €100,000 for the abuse she alleges she suffered during Casey’s years in the Limerick Diocese. When queries regarding the sum and the non-disclosure agreement were put to the solicitor then acting for Casey – Liam F Coghlan in Killarney, who is a relative of the bishop – said he had ‘no comment’ to make.

The MoS also asked Mr Coghlan to comment on all the allegations which have emerged against Bishop Casey and if he wished to comment on behalf of the Casey family. Again, he declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the Limerick Diocese, which ultimately paid this compensation from diocesan funds, said it could not detail the sum offered, but again confirmed it did not impose any conditions upon this woman as part of that settlement.

Solicitor Tommy Dalton, of Crowley Millar in Limerick city, who acted on behalf of this plaintiff, said he wasn’t in a position to comment when contacted by this newspaper.

The MoS can also reveal that the woman who was offered compensation under the Residential Institutions Redress Board – again for alleged child sexual abuse during Casey’s time in Limerick in the mid-1950s – has passed away.

However, before she died in her 70s, the woman revealed, in an oral testimony to a survivors’ organisation, harrowing details of her life in Magdalene Laundries (see story, above). Due to the Redress laws under which she received compensation, she could not reveal any details of her alleged abuser, Bishop Casey, or of her redress payment.

Cork-based solicitor, John Hussey, who acted for the woman in her claim, this week declined to comment on his client’s case.

Reacting, Ms Donovan – who has received no payment from this newspaper – this week told the MoS: ‘I am relieved the truth has come out after all this time and I am very grateful for all the support I have received.’

Every diocese in the country was contacted this week by the MoS by phone and email to determine if they had received any complaints against Casey. The dioceses which had not responded last night were: Killala, Kildare, and Derry. Every other diocese confirmed that they had not received any complaints in relation to Casey.

Trócaire also confirmed it had received no complaints against him.

UNFORTUNATELY the anniversary of his passing 51 years ago this month went unremarked, but Donogh O’Malley was surely the greatest politician ever to grace Dáil Éireann. In one stroke, the Minister for Education changed lives forever – and, in truth, determined the growth in our economic, social and cultural life.

In 1966, shortly after he was appointed to the education portfolio, O’Malley announced that second level education would be free for everyone from the following year. It is hard to believe these days that, up to then, there were fees for every level of education beyond primary school.

This meant that if you wished to proceed beyond sixth class, your parents had to find the annual fees.

O’Malley announced this dramatic change without consulting his cabinet colleagues – knowing that once he said it, nobody would ever renege on it.

This changed Ireland forever and led to our unprecedented economic growth over the past 50 years.

O’Malley deserves to be remembered because he realised the power of politics and the public service of politicians.

We live in an era where politics has a bad name – and it’s getting worse. The so-called leader of the western world, US President Donald Trump, is a low and dishonest narcissist, his counterpart in Russia Vladimir Putin sanctions state killings while the UK prime minister Theresa May is so politically incompetent that her latest bizarre request to her colleagues can be summed up as ‘back me, then sack me’.

In the words of Charles Haughey, Donogh O’Malley’s colleague at the time, it’s GUBU: grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented.

I was reminded of O’Malley’s greatness this week by the new ‘courage’ advertising campaign by Allianz insurance company which features his ‘free education’ decision as one of noblest political acts in the history of the state.

In an ingenious move, the advertising agency behind the campaign decided to use Donogh O’Malley’s son, the actor Daragh O’Malley, to portray his father in the adverts.

Daragh was born on the day his father was first elected to the Dáil for Limerick in 1954 and has forged a successful international acting career, appearing in many award-winning movies.

To see him re-enact his father’s famous Dáil speech announcing free education is uncanny.

Donogh O’Malley brought a credibility and charisma to Ireland of the 1960s – his appeal was further heightened when it emerged that poet Patrick Kavanagh’s greatest work – Raglan Road – was based on his infatuation with O’Malley’s wife Dr Hilda Moriarty.

Tragically, Donogh O’Malley died suddenly in March 1968 aged just 47, but his political legacy and the power to do good should be remembered and emulated.

WRITE TO JOE AT: The Irish Mail on Sunday, Embassy House, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4