ThePost.ie

24 January 2010 By John Burke and Emma Kennedy

Survivors of institutional child abuse want €500,000 – which has been earmarked for a monument to victims – to be given to survivors of the Haiti earthquake.

The proposal was made to Taoiseach Brian Cowen in a meeting last Friday with two of the main groups representing victims. Michael O’Brien of Right of Place, who met Cowen in Clonmel, said that the direct aid gesture would ‘‘genuinely mean more to victims of clerical abuse than a piece of stone on O’Connell Street’’.

The erection of a monument to survivors of abuse was one of the proposals in the Ryan Report into the abuse of children in state-run institutions.

The government established a committee last October to consider the location and nature of the memorial, which was to include the 1999 apology to abuse victims by former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Cowen told the groups that the government would consider the proposal.

If it is accepted, it would raise the national contribution to Haitian aid to €22.5 million.

The government last week also sent an 80-tonne consignment of supplies to Haiti.

As well as the official state contribution, Irish charities have raised millions of euro for Haiti, with contributions from businesses and members of the public.

The United Nations has appealed for more than €400million to fund the enormous relief operation under way in Haiti, where millions of people are homeless.

 

47 Responses to “Abuse victims propose that funds for monument go to Haiti survivors”

  1. Mary says:

    So will Mrs Buckley, tell us when is the next Big Huge meeting that only you can go to to speak about yourself Do you get a fat fee for attending?

  2. Thomas Miller says:

    Amanda
    This is Tom here,I rang John Kelly during the week and I advised him of the march that is taking place on the 24-3-10 from the pro-cthedral in Pearse Street at 11.30.I also explained to him what the march is about,I am also aware that it costs nothing to join these groups.What is going on at the moment between the leaders of these groups is scoring points of each other and holding secret meetings with the heads of government and the religious orders.I to will be at the meeting on the 14-2-10 with four others from the West of Ireland dressed in battle gear.John Kelly does not speak for me or the survivors from the west of ireland.Since his group was founded 10yrs ago he has not seen fit to contact any survivor from the west of ireland.I am not trying to score points here i am just stating a fact.P.S.If you know of any other survivors who are willing to travel for the March on the 24-3-10 please let them know.
    Tom.

  3. Mary Cornish - Henderson says:

    Amanda. All the groups have been well paid to keep the survivors of the Institutions in line.so we won’t cause any trouble.
    They have been set up for the last 10 years to get as much money as they can from the Bishops, the Education Dept, the lottery and the religious orders. Keep your money in your pocket. Remember Amanda the person that pays the piper calls the tune
    may

  4. Dear Paddy,
    What wonderful articles from Barry Clifford, and Angry, (monkey business) as most articles are quite interesting.
    However, to Barry Clifford, he is definitely an Irish survivor, denomination has no place or pride of place, as we are all surviving victims of a very abusive system. It was overseen by Catholic,& Protestant political leaders. (DeValera,& COSGRAVE) what about the Jewish mayor of Dublin, and not until 1949 did Irishman, Hiam Hertzhog, become the first President of the state of Israel. I have no knowledge of these prominent people leaping to the defence of any of the survivor victims, be they Protestant Catholic, Jewish or whatever the victims denomination, or religious persuasion. Anyone from any Irish Institution, that was denied or deprived of their rights/access to the pleasures of normal/natural family life, is a Victim. The People of Ireland have been too trusting of fools and thugs in high places, ah! those wolves in sheeps clothing, with grandiose titles, “your honour”, “your eminence,” “your arse”

    Regards to all
    Twisted Oliver

  5. Amanda says:

    Thank you Paddy. It doesn’t seem very organised. Paddy just one more question. How can I get to be a member of these groups. All I hear about is this group leader and that group leader , they have so many groups I’m all confused. Is their a group that the government recommend like if I ring anyone in the department will they recommend which group I should join. And also Paddy, how much is it to join a group?
    have you a list of the fee for joining. I mean they have to survive and I don’t mind paying a small fee, but I don’t have a lot of money but I always pay my way, I’m no sponger.

  6. Paddy says:

    Bless my soul! Ya have to laugh at some of the ‘going on’. If you’re looking for me on Valentine’s day, I’m having a “love in” with Mr. Kelly and his associates. It will be an orgy of sheer delight in Liberty delight. Only an idiot would miss it!! ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. It will fill the hallowed halls of Liberty hall on VALENTINES DAY. Roll up, roll up folks! Delighted it gave you a laugh Hanora. If we didn’t laugh we’d all be crying.

  7. Hanora Brennan says:

    Paddy, can I just say how hilarious I found that post? My shoulders are still heaving with laughter. A much needed tonic!

    Bellows – on yer bike Mike!

  8. Paddy says:

    What can I say Amanda other than Mr. Kelly has managed to confuse a lot of people for an awful lot of time. Many people have written to me saying they had tried to phone Mr. Kelly but got no answer. Others sent email messages and Mr. Kelly doesn’t appear to have seen fit to do these people the courtesy of replying to them.
    Amanda, if I could give advice I would. Mr. Kelly has not been in touch with me, I know of the meeting he refers to which is being held on Valentine’s day. Maybe it’s a “kiss and make up” meeting.
    As for meeting with the Government and the Bishops next week. This is outrageous given that Irish Soca doesn’t have a mandate to speak on behalf of any survivors that I’m aware off.
    I might well go to the meeting – in full battle dress!

    Fear not, you are not taking up space at all. Sorry I can’t be of more help. If I find out anything, I’ll let you know.
    Best wishes
    Paddy.

  9. Amanda says:

    Dear Paddy

    I’m all confused here. My sister told me there was a big huge meeting in Dublin in February and a March in March in Dublin. Paddy I don’t have your phone number so I can’t ring you and ask you, so I thought I would put it here and maybe if you have time you can answer me.
    I got the phone number of Mr John Kelly,of Irish SOCA, But he doesn’t have a website. so I had to pick up the phone and ring him. I’m not in Ireland Paddy, but will be coming home this month and staying for a good while. I spoke to Mr Kelly and he said he has a meeting on the 14th February a big huge one in Liberty Hall and he will be making big announcements then. I asked him about the March in March and he said that was a bit of a red herring, because they don’t know what they are marching for, so maybe I won’t go to that one.

    He was very nice and told me that he has a meeting with the Bishop next week and also the government, before the big huge meeting in the Liberty Hall.

    Paddy, do you have any advise for me, should I attend the meeting and the march. i’m not really a person who goes off marching especially when I don’t know what I’m marching for, but I thing I will go to the big huge meeting. Are you going to the meeting. Sorry Paddy for taking up so much space.

  10. Dear Barry Clifford,
    could you please email me your article on your childhood/etc, non catholic etc as I would like to give it to my my son, presently in Estonia (writer/director. Please
    Twisted Oliver

  11. Peter Quinn says:

    Noel Barry – the founder of Right of Place (neat name that) has a great line in healing.It goes like this – the Survivors need Healing so Noel arranges an annual Mass for the Dead in Cork for which he collects lots of cash and the survivors get on their knees and pray. Nice one – very clever. Barry’s slogan for the membership of ROP is Truth – Justice – Healing, the only thing is there is no truth from Barry and precious little Justice, and the Healing is a sick joke from a man who has turned the pain of many into millions of Euro in his Bank accounts. Very neat indeed – but he as been ably assisted by government officials and the very religious orders that abused the children over many decades. Very neat to be sure.The Clonmel Bellows lags far behind Barry in his money shake down activities – but at least Barry does offer jobs to his friends and he runs an office/property business ostensibly for the benefit of the survivors but in reality it’s a massive feather bedding operation. The only proper course of action is for a public inquiry into funding of all groups over the past ten years. Let it happen and watch the run for cover.

  12. ERIC says:

    how many survivors were consulted prior to this statement to the media
    just wondering!!! and NO
    Barry did not suggest this question but I bet he wished he did HA HA
    RIGHT BEHIND YOU BARRY

  13. Thomas Miller says:

    To whoever reads this,
    I to was in an instituion run by the catholic church and state for 14yrs,so would someone please tell me who elected this memorial committie and who are they?Talking to John Kelly the other day I found out by chance that he is holding a meeting on the 14th of Feb @ 2.00 in Liberty Hall in Dublin.Yet again living in the west of Ireland survivors are not being told about what is going on with these groups.Secret meetings going on between Brian Cowen and Michael o’ Brien that we know nothing about after the last march in Dublin,Christen Buckley,Michael o’ Brien and John Kelly had a meeting with Brian Cowen afterwards,survivors from the west of ireland are still waiting to hear what the outcome of that meeting was.They also had a meeting with the archbishop of Dublin and we are still waiting for the outcome of that or is that for their ears only and nobody else’s?What is it with the leaders of these groups that they will not let the survivors from the west of ireland know what is going on?Do the survivores from the west of ireland not exist in yer eyes?The way that i see it ye are just looking after yer own and to hell with the west.I think it is time for one voice to speak for all survivors from all over the country including the west of ireland.I am saying this to the heads of the groups that are ment to be supporting all of us survivors,stop the bitchiness between ye and stop trying to score points of each other,cause if ye don’t survivors will get nowhere.Thats what the government and the catholic church want.Anybody out there reading this don’t forget about the meeting in liberty hall dublin @ 2.00 and the march on the 24th of March in dublin @ the pro-cathederal @ 12.00.
    Thomas Miller.

  14. Martha says:

    I didn’t spend my childhood in an Catholic (or Protestant) Industrial School, but I did grow up in an institution, namely 1950/60 HOLY CATHOLIC IRELAND. So, like the VAST MAJORITY of the Irish population, I too was subjected to the systematic abuse and violence of Roman Catholic dogma. Its not as if our socio-political System has suddenly morphed into a Democracy overnight. It hasn’t. Such a psychological transformation takes time, i.e., several generations. We Irish are only just beginning that long journey…

    Emer, thanks for the laugh: enjoyed your post.

    Martha

  15. Paddy says:

    Emer. Michael O’Brien was the first person to bring up the idea of a statue. No decision on any memorial has been made. The Memorial Committee has had two meetings thus far. As progress is made, people will be informed of what’s being proposed as a memorial to those people who were abused while in industrial schools and other institutions. That’s the reality.

  16. Hanora Brennan says:

    Michael O’Brien is smarting from the fact he wasn’t invited to sit on the committee and he now plays fast and loose with 500,000 euro. Easy to see what callous disregard he has for us. He was nicely rumbled at a meeting in Waterford when he tried to dissuade survivors from a meeting in Dublin but he didn’t get his way there. On the day of the meeting, myself and other survivors were told the meeting was only for Group Leaders. Wait and see sez I and in we marched to the meeting. The media were outside to see if there was going to be any side-swipes, but nothing ensued. Time to get these people out. I’ve been saying it for long enough now.

  17. Hanora Brennan says:

    Right on Angry! As prophetic as always! You go for it!

  18. Hanora Brennan says:

    1890 227 227 is the lo call number for the Taoiseach’s office. Let him know how you feel. I certainly did. He’ll certainly know that no more deals are to be made with these people who have exceeded their sell by date!

  19. Alice says:

    10 Hail Mary’s and a Glory be for you Emer, yer very bold, but thanks for the laugh

  20. Kathleen O'Malley. Author. "Childhood Interrupted" says:

    This is a Political move to enhance Michael O’Briens future, from reading the above comments, he has done little or nothing for the people he supposedly represents. Who gave him the authority to dispose of or make such a decision? Put it to the vote and get the Survivors to decide.
    Kathleen O’Malley.

  21. Emer says:

    Paddy

    That statue and that secret meeting with others and Brian Cowan was all about the statue. Brian Cowan wanted the statue erected in Offally and Michael O’ Brien was fighting for the statue in Clonmel

    The Cork crowd wanted it in their O’Connell street, so I think we are all getting mixed up.

    Christine Buckley said she got the most awards and that the statue should be of her. Noel C Barry said the statue should be of him because he spent the most money gotten from all the departments and the bishops and if it wasn’t for him the money would never have been spent, we are talking in the millions here.

    Up there over the boarder Tom Hayes says the statue should be of him as he has the most members on his website. Just one click and your a member

    John Kelly is very quiet on this matter, but I heard through the grapevine that he wants the statue either bronze or gold. he is willing to donate some of his jewellery for this good cause, as long as the statue is of him

    Paddy, there are many who want this statue up what do we have to do to get our names put forward?

  22. Paddy says:

    One brief point. To my certain knowledge there has NEVER been mention made of ‘a piece of stone’. The Memorial Committee are just at the very early discussion stage. Michael O’Brien did mention a statue. I’ve no idea where he got that idea from. Perhaps you should engage with him.

  23. Peter Quinn says:

    Old Bellows is a former trooper in d’Army – his parade ground bullying is typical of a certain breed. No need for reasoned discussion, just scream like an infant with a wet nappy and add a few shockers about buggery – the media love all that stuff.
    Anyway, as a loyal FF man this old codger knows the ropes well and has received government funding over the years to run a so-called office in Clonmel – only problem is there is no office. But the funds must be handy for old Bellows who recently shouted on Dublin talk Radio that he was also in receipt of cash from one named religious order as well as the Dept of Education. Word on the street is that at least one Bishop has recently been lobbied for cash. On an RTE TV programme last month old Bellows brought along two wimmen from Clonmel who were strategically placed in the audience – making reference to old Bellows they said he was doing all his wonderful work struggling on his old age pension – but old Bellows didn‘t interrupt them – he just sat there basking in the sea of lies – neat little politician’s trick that – don’t be caught telling fibs, but its OK for someone else to carry them for you. Clever old Bellows – a true son of the Old Sod and testament to how far a complete air-head with lots of guile can go in a corrupt society. Well done RTE – another one to you.

  24. Gabrielle North says:

    Dear Paddy
    I read in horror yet again if Brian Cowen was to donate our money for Haiti let him get off his backside and do his bit by giving his own money to Haiti perhaps he could do a sponsored Helicopter jump and then that would seem more appropriate he is not in a position to dictate what we should do with the monies I would like to say that most of us have already donated our money to Haiti. Gabrielle North. Portsmouth

  25. Angry says:

    RIGHT TO PEACE , right to peace , when is this Michael O` Brien going to give us some of this desired commodity , PEACE .?. If this guy wants to donate 500,000 euros to Haiti , fair play to him , I knew he was getting his snout in the trough, but I didn`t realize his kickbacks amounted to so much dosh until I read he wished to donate SURVIVORS MONEY .?.

    Perhaps Michael , you could engage in something more useful , like telling survivors how much you have “”earned”” in the past ten years from involvement with your “”group”” ..??.

  26. Angry says:

    The chimps tea party scheduled in the Vatican for February 16-17 with a duration of SEVEN MINUTES per primate looks likely to set the world on fire, matchstick size . A foreign entity continues to impinge on Irish criminal matters with impunity. Does the Republic have a separate Department of Justice secretly squired away in the Vatican .??. How can an ex Hitler youth usurp the principles of Irish Law with by-passing the State to conduct an “”investigation”” into Irish criminal matters upon which adjudication has yet to be reached by current Garda investigations called for following the Ryan and Murphy reports .??.

    Isn`t THE BRIDEWELL the proper place for such “”Inquiries”” , and for these people to be seen to be “””helping Gardai with their inquiries””, may go some way to assuage the revulsion felt by the nation, as opposed to these primates legging it to rome and the vatican for tea and crumpets .??.

    Once again we witness Rome`s haste to stem a nationwide inquiry into all diocese`s in Ireland.

    That is what this is all about .

    The mindset of somebody to believe that a “”pastoral”” letter to the people of Ireland will suffice for these primates to get “”back to business””, indicates some serious mental aberrations on the senders part , and worse, the “”belief”” placed on this pastoral nonsense by these bishops as a means of survival to their luxurious and worry free pampered and indolent lives.

    This political master-class of inanity presently being fed to the survivors of clerical sexual terrorism bears all the hallmarks of the old adage of buying time, while they attempt to come up with something of merit which will effectively halt a nationwide audit and account of what other bishops are hiding and suppressing in their curia`s . That more bishops will go, is not in doubt . It`s the LACK of criminal proceedings which are in doubt . It`s time the man up there in the Phoenix Park started doling out some MILLSTONES, and informing rome that CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS pertaining to criminal acts perpetrated upon Irish children is HIS province , and not Rome`s . …..

  27. barry clifford phone: 0877511113 says:

    OPINION: Victims of Protestant prejudice and State neglect are at a disadvantage, writes DEREK LEINSTER

    YOU DON’T have to be a Catholic to be listened to as a victim of institutional abuse, but it seems to help. That is my experience as a Protestant victim of institutional neglect. Like all sufferers, I am a victim of prejudice.

    It was prejudice that forced my mother into the Bethany Home in Orwell Road, Rathgar in 1941 for the “social sin” (as one cleric put it) of being pregnant out of wedlock. To add to her burden, her gestating baby had a Catholic father. Marriage in those circumstances was out, and so was I, fostered out to a dysfunctional family in Wicklow where I was beaten black and blue and (I mention it since it seems to be what Irish people are most interested in) sexually molested.

    I left school illiterate when I was 13 and Ireland when I was 18, still unable to read or write. Some people escaped Catholic Ireland. I escaped the equally self-contained Protestant version, from Wicklow to Wakefield, in England.

    Patsy McGarry wrote all too briefly about my call to include the Bethany Home in the Irish State’s redress scheme, but a lot about abuse being something peculiarly Irish and Catholic (Irish Times, June 20th). I can assure him that just being Irish was reason enough. That and being poor was often sufficient.

    One reverend gentleman speaking in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin in December 1945 received reports on that score from the Bethany Home, the Protestant Magdalen Home (yes, there was one) and “the Detective Branch of the Civic Guard”. Unwed pregnancy was spreading beyond the “servant girl type”. Sometimes, “business girls and occasionally university students were victims”.

    He should have said “victimised”.

    The Bethany Home was set up in 1922, the opening presided over by the Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin. He said the home was “specially intended” for “fallen” women.

    Another clergyman involved was the a leading supporter of the Orange Order in Dublin. When not making clever remarks about the pope, the Rev TC Hammond was persecuting fellow clerics for placing candles on church altars.

    People like him pursued, as The Irish Times put it in 1964, the “moral welfare and rehabilitation” of Bethany women. The women had overstepped the boundaries of prejudice. Some found an all too fleeting happiness with a member of the opposite religion.

    Their illicit offspring paid for it for the rest of their lives. Cast off, cast out, half-caste.

    That was me and many others.

    I am now old, a proud father and a grandfather. I want justice. Not just for myself but for all the victims of State neglect and religious narrow-mindedness. I will not rest until the lies have been exposed.

    I was told that the Irish State did not monitor the Bethany Home. That is a lie. Though, as an excuse for getting off the hook, it takes some beating. It was the reason I took so many.

    I forgive my dysfunctional foster father. He no more beat me because he was a Protestant than others were beaten because their tormentors were Catholics. He and his wife should never have been given a foster child.

    Those who claimed to know better than the rest should have done better. They are to blame. The Irish State I do not forgive. The Irish people deserve better.

    We victims of Protestant prejudice and State neglect are at a disadvantage because we were scattered to the four winds, disconnected from each other and forgotten about. Since my personal story, Hannah’s Shame, was published I have met fellow sufferers. They have medical problems alarmingly similar to mine that stem from early neglect.

    I can be contacted through my website, http://www.derekleinster.com. I would like to share experiences with Catholic and Protestant victims. Maybe the Irish media and politicians will get more interested. That is up to them.

    We need a bit of Protestant people power to make that happen. Catholics can join in.

    I am not prejudiced. My father, who died before I discovered who he was, was a Catholic.

    Derek Leinster became a trade union official and accomplished amateur boxer in England. He is now retired. Hannah’s Shame, and a companion volume, Destiny Unknown, are available via his website, http://www.derekleinster.com
    ————————————————————————————-

  28. Paddy,
    Another useless piece of stone with meaningless words inscribed thereon. Another thing to lean on, or park a bike upon.

    HELPING SOMEONE WITH THAT MONEY, WOULD BE MORE GAINFUL. I have never paid tax in Ireland, as I was dumped in the street at 16 yrs. One can also seize the assets of our abusers, and give the cashed up value of same to Irish Victims of Abuse, as they were obtained by our sweat blood and slavery. Qute a few of us were set to hard labour from 9yrs of age. Remembering, that compassion , coupled with some charity is a wonderful thing, and can be very rewarding, spiritually. If one really wants to criticise
    pre Haiti earthquake affairs, one should have a look historically, as to how is was founded. By tens of thousands of black slaves, not wanting to trade one master for another slave master. Look at the Irish Constitution, it is wonderfully written on another usless piece of stone in Arbour? Hill. It certainly did not protect the Victims of abuse in Ireland, all 120,000 of us. My real education started in England & Scotland at almost 17yrs of age, when the English Police found my parent6s. “People in glasshouses should not throw stones”

    Can you dissenters just imagine, that for most of my life, when my children, wife or associates, would ask, “where in Ireland, do you come from”, having an Irish accent, with a good command of the Gaelic language. Who would like to answer that for me?? Well, I was incapable of answering that question, as I would have to lie

    Twisted Oliver

  29. Paddy,
    I support giving any money spent on a useless monument for insitutional abuse victims, be donated to the Haiti victims.
    I have an absolute right to say this, as I spent almost 14 yrs locked up in Irish Institutions, a broken nose at 3ys from a police sgt, for defending my pregnant mother, a criminal record the following morning in Carlow court, for assault on a police officer, my parents exiled, and forbidden visitation rights. Family farm lost.
    The so called support groups are behind this rubbish, I wonder where there money comes from.
    Haiti, is a disaster zone, the loss of a child, or sibling, or the loss of a parent is a terrible thing, I live it most days of my turbulant life. Any help Brian Cowen can give to especially the chilren of this Haiti
    disaster will greatly reduce trauma & improve
    the mental health of those children, and ultimately there mothers. Thus avoiding asylums etc. I may be little mad & disturbed, and like Paddy Doyle, I am not stupid. This site is more supportive of the abuse victims than the so called Survivor support Groups, there self interest is very evident, there silence is deafening, on this and other major issues, such as Heresy Laws, probably the work of their paymasters.
    Well done Paddy
    Twisted Oliver

  30. anne says:

    Hi Paddy,

    Well I’m so angry-(wasted energy I know)..so hurt and insulted!!!

    This has upset me so much…I received your mail tonight Barry, and There is a few of us now coming over to the next March in March.

    That is where we will now put our energy.

    Anne

  31. Thomas Miller says:

    Being a survivor from the west of Ireland I am living on disability, I have given what I can afford to the Haiti appeal. My heart goes out to the people there who have suffered. Michael O’Brien you should know that charity starts at home. How come no survivor from the west of Ireland was informed that you were having a meeting with Cowen to discuss giving 500,000 euro to Haiti? You do not speak for me or other survivors from the west of Ireland that I know of, so the next time you come up with a hair-brain scheme you should start by contacting people to see how they feel about it. That money belongs to all survivors in Ireland. Now Michael go back to your friend in the FF party (useless party) and tell him to donate money from his own pocket for a monument. Once again please do not give my money or that of survivors from the west of Ireland that I am in contact with. Thank you.

  32. Redzer says:

    A ‘Memorial’ Concept or a working facility?

    Function:
    1. To assist survivors with facilities, access and resources in so far as they may exist in relation to damage and abuse caused to their lives.

    2.To assist as a place of reflection for Irish society to accept the reality of participation and indoctrination in a Papal republic in which catholic ideologies and indoctrinated prejudices have usurped fundamental concepts of human rights and dignities in relation to treatment of children & the vulnerable in the past and the onging present.

    Form
    A building of significant proportions (e.g. comparable in scale to the GPO) designed by a leading international architect and located in a promient place such as o’connell st and fully serviced to exhibit and display the reality of how the 1st irish republic was sold out to a religious foreign power.

    To present the lives of damage that have been caused in a manner similar to the the Wiesental project which chronicles the lives of the Jews through videos and exhibits of that legacy. To make that statement of devastation undeniable and unequivocal so that any visitor to the memorial will be left in no doubth as to the terribel suffering endured particularly by women and children with the dreadful conditions manufactured by the zealots of th religious states of Rome and its satellite, Ireland.

    That such an exhibition hall would contain an interactive media account of the perpetrators formation, collusion and direction of the state & church activity to the present time of politicians, state employees and senior clerics and individual abusers who establish the system of abuse and pedophilia which has come to light.

    That such an exhibtion would show current political ‘players’ in the context of ongoing opposition to the rights of survivors in the form of the clerics of denial and the behaviour of the private citizens who continue to reject the reality or rationalise it out of relevance.

    That such an exhibition hall would contain, the means and facilities for survivors to research their lives through the files of the religious and recover as much as could be possible from the hidden and inaccessible state and church archives.

    Finally
    That this term ‘memorial’ would not reflect a lump of rock in o’connell st but would exist as a working facility to rid Ireland and other nations of state, church and familial child abuse.

    Lets see where the Irish state stands with this………….will it be the lump of rock or a prominent working facility visible and available to all as a ststement of rejection of past values with active benefit to those whose lives have been devastated?

    Acquiring a Suitable Property
    Land Commission to allocate former suitable Church properties on application.

    Files and documenss to be housed in the centre: Acquired by Assistance of Dail act on all such files for imediate confiscation and lodging in the new facility.

    Operational funds: To be made available from rents on properties re allocated by Land Commission

  33. As I sit here in the desert in Arizona reading about this gentlemans shennanagins, I do not have a clue who he is (O’Brien) ? but he seems to have organized another (speak for us group) I most certainly do not want this gentleman to speak for me at all. One person alone should speak for me, that person will be, ME, I would appreciate it if Paddy Doyle would contact Mr.Cowen as my spokesman, if he would, as I respect his work for the disabled. My message Paddy. Mr. Cowen, I do not want you to speak to anyone posing to represent me or my views. Leave the Irish taxpayers monies alone, build the memorial on O’Connell Street as Mr. Walsh from Glin, Co. Limerick brought to notice last year, an apology from the Church should be added as well as Bernie’s. Ask the Church when are they contributing their share of the compensation to the survivors and let the survivors themselves donate what they can to Haiti and all the other countries around the world in dire need.
    All of us should be consulted now, Im 75 and would like to see an apology from the Church before I join my friends from St. Joseph’s Industrial School, Glin in some far off graveyard in the American continent.
    Damaged Goods.
    Seanie.

  34. rob dempsey says:

    Two years ago, the Ryan report into the abuse of children in religious-run establishments generated debate on whether the Catholic Church should retain control of the sector. Now, following publication of the Murphy report, the electorate has made up its mind and supports ending that control by a margin of almost two-to-one, according to today’s Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll.

  35. Charles O'Rourke says:

    Sad to see the People of Haiti being pitted against the Suviviors of clerical abuse by a person who without any cosultations positions himself in a monumental benign role.

  36. Paddy says:

    I see Michael O’ Brien – the Clonmel Bellows, is making free with
    500,000 earmarked for a National monument and wants it transferred
    to Haiti thereby killing two birds with one stone. His hostility to a National
    monument is well known but isn’t it convenient that an earthquake in
    Haiti has provided him with cover to pose concern for the victims over there. A
    long life in local politics as a loyal FF man has honed his media skills to be
    sure. I wonder how much money this particular screamer has received down the
    years from Church and State, using his ludicrous Right to Peace name tag?
    Peter Quinn

  37. Accountant says:

    Now if I add it all up and get the sums correct. Michael O’ Brien wants to give 500K away to Haiti. The Irish tax payer should have a say in all this.

    1. Michael it’s NOT YOUR MONEY to decide what to do with it.

    2. Brian Cowan should never have said he will consider it. It’s not his money either

    If Michael wants to give to Haiti, let him
    BUT, not money that DOES NOT BELONG TO HIM

    For God’s sake Paddy, lets get real here.
    If Michael O’ Brien had a website to communicate with his so called “Groupies” then we all could go to that website and tell him directly

    MICHAEL IT’S NOT – REPEAT- NOT YOUR MONEY

  38. Mary Cornish - Henderson says:

    Paddy
    When O’Brien was mayor of Clonmel what did he do for the ex prisoners of the Institutions.? (NOTHING) Now more secret deals. He has got his nose in all the dirty deals from day one. and got well paid for it.
    Let Him give to Haiti out of his own pocket and not out of the survivors.
    Like most of us I have given what I can afford to the collection for Haiti. I never asked Mr O’Brien to send money for me.
    May

  39. Paul says:

    Paddy That money should be kept in Ireland and given to those who are still suffering many who now senior citizens and finding it hard to make ends meet in this Fiannia Fail Jack boot Religious mad Ireland.

  40. Andrew says:

    Haiti was a HELLHOLE before the earthquake, and Mr. O’Brien was nowhere to be seen, and this suggestion by Mr. O’Brien that monies earmarked for a memorial to abuse victims that these monies go to Haitian survivors is Mr. O’Brien playing politics on the battered and bloodied bodies of the earthquake victims.

    But then Michael is a Fianna Failure – the political party that ruled Ireland and the institutions, in conjunction with the Catholic Church for over 70 years. They were in power when Peter Tyrrell was battered and bruised in Letterfrack, when Patsy Flanagan ‘fell’ off the stairs in Artane, when my chum Michael Bowes died in atrocious conditions in ….. wait for it …. Ferryhouse in March 1967. Where was Mister O’Brien when my chum died —- why he was with Fianna Fail? Once a Fianna Failure ALWAYS a Fianna Failure.

  41. Michael says:

    Yeah, well I agree totally with you Paddy and Emer. Aer Lingus flew a plane load of stuff out and the stuff still has not gotten to the survivors of this earthquake. It’s a living nightmare out there and Michael o brien should not trivialise it by offering other people entitlements without their permission. Like Emer suggest

    Mr.O’Brien
    On yer Bike

  42. Emer says:

    http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/25/uk.boy.charity.haiti/index.html?hpt=T2

    Should rear 160K Paddy, but sure what’s 20K to Mr.O Brien, when he can just give it away

    You are very right about what is happening there and I do not want to take away from that, but what I just read is making me boil. HOW DARE HE, speak for the likes of me and others and with NO MANDATE to Boot

  43. Emer says:

    Paddy

    Anyone can Google “Just Giving’ and will come to the Uk website for fund-raising for Haiti.
    Now Paddy, may I suggest Mr.O’Brien take himself over to that website and do something meaningful for Haiti, like ride his bike around a park like a 7 year old child did and raised over 180K yes K Paddy for Haiti, and leave the 500K for the Irish Survivors of child Abuse, for THEM TO DECIDE what to do with it, instead of genuflecting to Mr.Brian Cowen.

  44. FXR says:

    It would be nice if the response of the Irish people to the tsunami of child rape and torture on their own island by the Catholic Church was equal to that of the outpouring of sympathy for the people of Haiti, justified as it is. Sympathy seems to have taken a back seat to guilt and denial when it comes to our own.

  45. barry clifford phone: 0877511113 says:

    Mr. Michael O’Brien and indeed others do not represent peoples that have suffered from institutional abuse. Maybe they do on a very local or parochial level at best, but that is a far cry from the fourteen thousand others that are left. They not only have never heard of you before but they did not elect you either. It is perhaps timely also to ask what have you done with monies you have received from the state in the past seven years as well and you can leave your pension out of the equation. Feel free to offer that to Haiti yourself and if you prove you did, I will match it. You speak only for yourself Michael and whatever ambitions that you court and not for others.

    Barry Clifford
    email: bgclifford@iol.ie

  46. Delma Hughes says:

    Right too Paddy.
    I may be out of turn, but sounds odd to me, survivors donating funds for their own memorial to survivors. Who’s money is this to spend so freely, clearly wanting themselves to look good?. Is the memorial for those who lived suffering & many who died without justice or reparation & support,to be so readily disposed of?. Even small donation would be a grand gesture, from the poorest & most disadvantaged in society. I’m sure most have given out of your own pockets. If your are looking for ideas for a memorial, why not buy a house in town and call it ‘HOME’ something we never had!!.

  47. Paddy says:

    The awful earthquake which devastated Haiti is a source of great sadness and pain to ALL people.

    According to the newspaper article above, two bodies representing survivors of abuse met with An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen and suggested that the €500,000 allocated by the government to the establishment of a memorial to survivors of abuse in Ireland, be given to the people of Haiti.

    While this is of course a very noble idea serious questions arise as to why yet another clandestine meeting between groups purporting to represent people who were abused while in industrial schools and other institutions should take place without any consultation with the groups people like Mr. O’Brien claim to represent.

    Yet again Mr.O’Brien and others have to be reminded that they do not have a mandate to speak on behalf of ‘survivors’.

    Mr.O’Brien makes reference to “a piece of stone on O’Connell Street’’. What piece of stone is he referring to? This reference is clearly designed to mislead people as no decision on any shape or form of a memorial has been made.

    I’m sure that I can speak on behalf of all ‘survivors’and people generally when I say that our hearts go out to the people of Haiti. Their suffering and loss of life is beyond imagination.

    If you are going to speak on behalf of survivors Mr. O’Brien, would you and your fellow “representatives” at least do those of us who were abused, the courtesy of discussing matters with you before rushing off to your political friends and trying to do deals with them. Paddy Doyle.