Opinion Michael O'Brien's intervention was a watershed moment in our reckoning with abuse

THE HEADLINES THIS week focus on the death of Pope Francis in Rome. But here in Ireland we have lost another influential figure, a man committed to justice and truth.

Michael O’Brien made a significant contribution to our collective knowledge about the effects of sexual violence against children and the harmful effects of the state bodies created to respond to survivors of institutional abuse.

Mr O’Brien created one of the most powerful moments in Irish public life when he shared his experience of being raped as a child in St Joseph’s Industrial School in Clonmel. In May 2009, in an unplanned intervention, he spoke from the audience on RTÉ’s Questions and Answers programme.

On the panel that evening were Minister for the Environment Noel Dempsey and Leo Varadkar, then in opposition. The topic was the recent Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. 

Extending over 2,600 pages, it painted a devastating picture of violence against children in the industrial school system. It found that sexual abuse was endemic in boys’ schools and that physical and emotional abuse and neglect were pervasive across the system.

Sexual abuse was hidden by the congregations and abusive men were transferred to other schools where they re-offended. It found that abusers were able to operate undetected for long periods, and even if detected, religious authorities seldom reported sexual abuse.

John Kelly, an abuse victim, reads a copy of the 'Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse' in Dublin, Ireland, May, Wednesday, May 20 2009. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The Department of Education was found to have dismissed or ignored complaints of sexual abuse. In an especially damning finding, the Commission described the Department’s inspection system as “fundamentally flawed and incapable of being effective”, blaming its “deferential and submissive attitude […] towards Congregations”.

A country wakes up

The media reaction was one of horror. The Irish Times called it “a map of an Irish hell”. But survivors’ voices did not feature prominently in the public discussion; indeed, they were banned from attending the launch. It was in this context that Michael O’Brien’s contribution should be understood.

Seated next to his beloved wife Mary, Mr O’Brien spoke powerfully and without shame:

Eight of us from the one family, dragged by the ISPCC cruelty man.

Put into two cars, brought to the court in Clonmel.

Left standing there without food or anything, and the fella in the long black frock and the white collar came along, and he put us into a van …

Two nights later I was raped.

In these lines, Mr O’Brien indicted the State, in the form of the courts, and by implication the law, which authorised the abduction of children from their families and their incarceration on various grounds, including poverty and being a female victim of sexual violence.

He went on to describe the crimes he endured at the hands of men in Ferryhouse Industrial School, piercing the decades of imposed societal silencing of him and other survivors.

"And I knew then now or never...", Michael O'Brien explains why he spoke out on Questions & Answers in 2009.#Redress - Breaking the Silence, part 2, tonight, 9.35pm pic.twitter.com/HcFw3EcOIT

— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) March 3, 2020

Mr O’Brien went further and called on the State to account for its failures towards survivors. He described the adversarial approach to truth-finding adopted by the Commission, including how he was cross-examined by eight different lawyers as he gave testimony over five days.

He described feelings of utter devastation after giving testimony. This was the first time that a survivor had spoken so publicly and so clearly about the harms inflicted by the State’s responses to adult survivors.

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Lifting others up

Mr O’Brien’s intervention was a watershed moment in Irish society’s reckoning with our shared history of institutional abuse. A few weeks later, he was one of four survivors who led a silent march of around 10,000 people in solidarity with abuse survivors. The Dáil held a two day debate on the Report. Survivors met President McAleese in Áras an Uachtaráin, where she called for criminal prosecutions.

Regrettably, that was not achieved; only three prosecutions resulted from referrals from the Commission.

Members of a government-appointed Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse addressed the media in 2009. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Mr O’Brien’s message was the right of every person to tell their story and the need for society to learn from their experiences. But, crucially, there was and is a major barrier preventing many survivors from speaking. People who accepted an award from the Redress Board were required to sign an agreement promising not to talk about their experience of redress.

They were also sent a letter quoting legislation criminalising the publication of information that could lead to the identification of a person or institution. Punishment for breach was — and is — a fine of €25,000 and two years’ imprisonment. The same law also bans publication of information provided by religious orders to the Board, thus impeding our knowledge of our shared past.

These bans could easily be repealed by the Oireachtas. Other concrete actions would also make a difference, like enhanced medical cards for survivors, many of whom are living with lifelong conditions and disabilities connected with their experiences in industrial schools.

Action by Minister for Education, Helen McEntee and the government on these practical and simple steps would be a fitting tribute to Mr O’Brien.

Dr Sinéad Ring is an Associate Professor at the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University.

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