By Bruce Arnold
Monday July 27 2009
John Kelly is a leading figure among the abused. Few people in the past 10 years can be unaware of his Daingean ordeal, flogged on the staircase of that abominable institution, his cries echoing up through the silent and listening dormitories, his punishment a fearful example.
For the past 10 years he has worked as Dublin spokesperson for Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA), fully aware of the public debate involving politicians and the Church, and also the behind-the-scenes debate. Irish SOCA stood for the abused and was independent. It spoke against consensus. It condemned the State’s silencing of the abused.
John Kelly was helped by Patrick Walsh, from London, and Jim Beresford, in Huddersfield. Beresford knew Father Moore, who exposed the Artane regime in 1962. Kelly emerged in the wake of the Ryan report to tell his experiences yet again.
He took a leading position, speaking on behalf of the abused, notably in respect of the pressure from the Government to get more funding from the Religious Orders.
The plight of the abused took on new impetus after the Ryan report, with the march from Parnell Square to Leinster House. This impetus and focus fell apart as a result of a letter written by Kelly to Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore on July 8, a week before the tabling of its Institutional Child Abuse Bill. In that letter Kelly wrote: “The Labour Party has Irish Soca’s permission to inform the Dail or other parties of interest that Irish Soca has requested the Labour Party to defer this bill until the outcome of the audit is known and government is better placed to make judgment on the way forward”. The letter supported the Government in opposing the bill. It failed its first reading.
The authority of the statement in the letter is being widely questioned. There was no reported meeting of “the membership of Irish SOCA”, whose numbers and membership are not known to me. The three I do know are named above. Jim Beresford told me he was not party to recent decision-making. Other organisations are not included. Nevertheless, the letter has had an impact far greater than Irish SOCA achieved during its campaigning over the past 10 years. The letter is viewed as having killed the Labour Party bill. This raises important questions that need answering.
Kelly called for cross-party consensus: “support of Government is absolutely vital” and he referred to “government initiatives” and to the Government being “better placed to make judgment on the way forward”.
We should not overlook the fact that Eamon Gilmore and those close to him did offer consensus and did seek government agreement. They said they would withdraw their bill if the Government drafted a similar one. We should also not exclude the culpability of Government on many issues during the past decade and the slow pace of initiatives now.
The Irish State, not just the Government, has been shrewd and skilful in eliminating consensus. Most of the questions that need answering concern representation. Who does John Kelly speak for and is it representative? How do the other voices of the abused make themselves heard?
There are more than 14,000 who have received state compensation. Many of them, some I have spoken with, feel that nothing more should be attempted, since it will go wrong. No one has asked them. There is a mechanism.
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