ABUSED ALL OVER AGAIN
Survivors of child abuse tell of their anger over a Government plan to seal their records for 75 years – and say that the long battle to uncover the truth is far from over
SURVIVOR JOHNNY MARTIN We want that story to get out, we want to blind people with our stories. SURVIVOR GERRY MORAN I think they’re hiding something, there’s something behind it. The Church is involved somewhere.
SURVIVORS of institutional child abuse have said they feel ‘abused all over again’ by a Government plan to seal their personal records for 75 years.
Abused as children, they say the extent of their abuse at the hands of the State has yet to end.
And their fight to seek the truth is far from over.
Now, they want access to files that relate to them, which the State is proposing to lock away and hide from their eyes, and the public’s, for up to a century.
The Retention of Records Bill 2019 will see records from the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, the Residential Institutions Redress Board, and the Residential Institutions Redress Review Committee placed in the National Archives of Ireland and sealed for a minimum of 75 years.
Survivors appeared alongside lawyers, historians and archivists at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills yesterday to oppose the bill, which was introduced by Education Minister Joe McHugh.
They believe it is evidence of ‘a culture of cover-up’ and demanded survivors be consulted, with those who wish to get access to their files being granted it immediately.
Both Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mr McHugh have previously sought to defend the decision to seal the records of testimonies relating to child abuse.
They argue that the original terms of the redress bodies stipulated that the records are to be destroyed – and that this, in a sense, is a compromise.
But the survivors certainly do not feel there is any ‘win’ in this for them, nor any semblance of long and painfully awaited justice.
Instead, the Government’s solution is to seal them for 75 years – by which time everyone referenced in the reports will be dead.
There is, however, some reason for abuse victims to be hopeful. With a long fight behind them, and perhaps more to come ahead, the survivors had a partial victory.
Yesterday, the Joint Committee on Education and Skills heard evidence from a wide range of witnesses on the Bill.
Particularly poignant evidence was given from survivors who outlined, in a deeply moving way, the impact this Bill would have on them personally.
The Select Committee on Education and Skills was due to consider the Retention of Records Bill (2019) at a meeting next week.
But deputies have now agreed to defer consideration of the Bill. They are seeking a response from the Minister for Education and Skills on concerns raised by survivors, as well as legal experts, about the legislation.
Chair of the Committee on Education and Skills, Deputy Fiona O’Loughlin, said: ‘We will be forwarding the Minister a summary of what we heard and we will be seeking a response from him addressing a number of the key issues raised.’
Carmel McDonnell-Byrne, survivor and co-founder of the Christine
Buckley Centre, told the Irish Daily Mail last night: ‘It is now a matter for the Minister to act on the evidence presented to the Committee that the sealing of records for 75 years will cause survivors further distress, not to mention the legal and historical ramifications.’
A number of men who suffered untold damage in these institutions gathered yesterday in the Davenport Hotel in Dublin, willing to share their harrowing experiences in the hope that this bill can be stopped – or radically altered.
Among them was Francis Timmons, who was abused at Madonna House in Dublin, which was run by the Sisters of Charity, and only recently he learned he was involved in the vaccine trials.
He told the Mail the bill was ‘a blatant effort by the Government to cover up probably the most shameful part of our history in Ireland’.
‘What interests me is truth and any attempt to cover up the truth is a slap in the face for survivors.
‘It’s been a culture of cover-up and this just extends that. It’s rotten to the core to think you could lock files up for 75 years. We’re abused as children, we’re abused as adults.
‘I had a sister that died. I’ve never been able to find where she’s buried or how she died. I’m entitled to that. The least they could do is hand over that information.
‘Everybody, without question, has a right to information that’s kept about them.’
Mr Timmons, who is now a councillor in south Dublin, said the State has yet to deal with the legacy of the abuse properly.
‘It’s been very easy in this country for the Church to blame the State and the State to blame the Church and survivors are
Long and painfully awaited justice ‘It’s been a culture of cover-up’
caught in the middle. We really should be holding the [religious] orders to account and I don’t think we’ve done that. I think we’ve let them off the hook.
‘I didn’t ask to be put in an institution. I certainly didn’t ask for things to happen to me there or in foster care or in the vaccine trials. And I’m just one of thousands.
‘For them to come along and do this – what’s the reason? Why are you so keen to cover up? Who are you protecting?
‘Most of the people are dead now so you’re really protecting the institutions of State and Church.
‘Whoever is behind this act, what they’re really saying is we don’t want that coming out, we don’t want the truth. And unless you have the truth we really can’t move on as a state.
‘It’s very important for future generations – you have to deal with everything. It needs to be taught in schools. You don’t just gloss over things, you need to have honesty.
‘People can’t tell you that you can’t tell your story, it’s ridiculous. It’s part of the healing.’
Many of the survivors who spoke to the Irish Daily Mail said they had no knowledge of the plan to seal their records.
Gerry Moran, who was put in an industrial school aged just four months, said he only heard about the bill through the Aislinn Centre, which helps survivors of institutional abuse and was founded by the late campaigner Christine Buckley.
‘I think it’s wrong; it’s a disgrace. It’s like being abused all over again,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t make sense to us. We’ve been through the commissions and investigations and it’s like being kicked again. It really affects me. I’m sitting there thinking why would they put us through this again?
‘I think they’re hiding something, there’s something behind it. The Church is involved somewhere.’
Mr Moran said he did not have access to his medical records so could not warn his family about potential health concerns.
‘I’ve got four daughters now and five grandkids and they often ask me is there any medical things we need to know? And I think how am I going to explain this? Because I don’t know.
‘It sickens me really. I’d love to know my medical history and I have no idea.
‘But there are people still looking for family members even now and they want to seal them for 75 years. So I’ll be 150-something when they release them.’
Carmel McDonnell-Byrne said: ‘The Department of Education’s own July 2019 Consultation Report with survivors stated that numerous survivors see this bill “as a violation of their rights to their own stories”.
‘The report also stated that
“many survivors” wish to see the Government establish “a place of learning and information... a place for the study of institutions for all students interested in this issue”.’
Derek Egan, who grew up in a care home in Finglas, said he was ‘livid’ about the bill.
He told this newspaper: ‘I’m just gutted, I feel like crying here. I’m gutted with what this Government is trying to do and get away with. It’s wrong, totally wrong.
‘What right have you got to close my files? If you were in the same situation, wouldn’t you want them?
‘There’s no accountability. As far as we know, no one has ever been charged. My abuser was never named. I don’t even know his surname. I only knew his first name as a Christian Brother.’
Johnny Martin was also abused by a member of the Christian
Brothers, who also was never named, while he was at Artane Industrial School.
He said: ‘We want that story to get out, we want to blind people with our stories.
‘To me, it’s like everything else. At the end of the day people who make decisions about my life I have no control over and they just bully me into making these decisions.
‘If a Minister’s child went through what I went through as a kid, things would be very different. Absolutely totally different. So why am I different to their sons?
‘All the politicians will tell you there’s one justice for everyone in this world but we all know that’s not true.’
Sinéad Ring, a professor of law at Maynooth University, said the bill could be challenged under EU law. She said survivors ‘absolutely have a legal right to the documents under EU law, under the General Data Protection Regulation and under the right to privacy.
‘It’s infringing the general right to information for survivors and their families, most importantly, and also the public’s right and last of all researchers’ right to understand what happened and why it happened.’
In a joint statement, a group of academic researchers who have gathered under the name Transformative Justice Ireland to oppose the bill, said: ‘We cannot overstate the potential impact of this bill on our country’s historical record, on survivors’ and their families’ personal lives, and on our State’s ability to prevent abuse in the future.
‘We are calling for further consultation with survivors. In addition, pending the re-drafting of the Retention of Records Bill, the Oireachtas should legislate to ensure immediate access to full, unredacted personal files for survivors from the existing archives.’
DEREK EGAN I feel like crying here. I am gutted with what this Government is trying to do and get away with. It’s wrong, totally wrong. FRANCIS TIMMONS It’s been a culture of cover-up and this just extends that. It’s rotten to the core to think you could lock files up for 75 years. We’re abused as children, we’re abused as adults.
He was ‘livid’ about the bill