Seanad debates

Thursday, 21 May 2009

Photo of David NorrisDavid Norris (Independent)

The most chilling and damning words on the front page of The Irish Times this morning are "systematic" and "endemic". They tell the whole story. This was known to many people in authority. In the Church, responsibility goes right to Rome, where a report detailing the systematic and endemic sexual abuse of children gathered dust for 60 years.

I respectfully disagree with Senator Harris, to an extent. The Protestant section of this society is not exempt, except by whitewash. I attended an up-market Protestant boarding school where sadism was rampant and someone very close to me had his life destroyed by this sadism. It is extraordinary that the Protestant churches should be so completely excluded. I feel great compassion for the victims but I also feel compassion for the many decent, good and self-sacrificing members of the clergy who are now tarred with the same brush, in the same way that we as politicians are tarred.

What about the judges? Children, trembling, terrified and clearly physically injured, routinely turned up in front of the judges of the State and not one of them ever asked a question. The judges are as guilty as anyone else in this State and we are guilty too.

I remember what Senator O'Toole was talking about and the debates about the Stay Safe programme. Those people were in this House as well. I listened to them talking about protecting the family against children. It was disgusting and repellant and it is disgusting, repellant and obscene that still we have a situation where the churches, the very people that are indicted in this report, are exempt from the operation of the equality law. They are not equal with the rest of us and they are placed above the law. How can anyone tolerate that the people who visited this on the innocent children of the country are exempt from equality law?

The bullying and psychological torture of young people is still going on and is facilitated by us. Christ and Caesar are still hand in glove in this place and we are guilty of it. For that reason I not only support and second Senator O'Toole's amendment, but propose a simple amendment of my own, that we take No. 29, motion 9 and allow ten minutes for it. The motion, in the name of Senator O'Toole and I, simply states: "That Seanad Éireann, in the light of the Ferns Report [and the Cloyne report, the Laffoy report and now today this unspeakable revelation], requests the Government to re-examine the exemption of the churches from the operations of equality legislation." We should do so today in a ten-minute statement and we need not even take a vote but simply pass the motion. We are not condemning anyone or prejudging the issue. We are calling for it to be re-examined. If we do not do so today the House stands in contempt and in dereliction of its duty to the children of Ireland.

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