The dreadful, depressing truth is that no tribunal into child sexual abuse in Irish schools can ever undo the injustice done to the victims, though the many lawyers involved might heroically draw some melancholy satisfaction from the vast amounts of money that tribunals invariably cascade in their direction. As for the genuine victims, little consolation is possible.
Moreover, the issue of child sex-abuse is not uniquely Irish. British public schools were notorious hothouses of sexual depravity, and German Protestant churches are now making the same discovery. However, the issue in Ireland is not just the Catholic Church, but the cultural protection freely conferred upon that Church by Irish society generally. The First Dail’s cabinet did not include a Minister for Education, because that duty was already being discharged by the Catholic Church. From the earliest days of independence, respective governments received reports from school inspectors of both excessive violence and of sexual abuse. One attorney general in the 1930s scribbled on his file, “Christian brothers at their games again. Disgraceful stuff. But there’s nothing I can do.”
This article is premium content
Get unlimited access to Gript
Support Gript and get exclusive content, full archives and an ad-free experience
Subscribe
Already a member? Sign in here