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PEOPLE ABUSED WHILE in Irish national schools have received letters from lawyers representing the Department of Education, advising them that they face significant costs if they are not successful in legal cases against the department.
Two years ago, abuse victim Louise O’Keeffe won a landmark European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling which found that the Irish State bore responsibility for the sexual abuse she was subjected to while attending a national school.
She had earlier lost her case in Irish courts but the ECHR found in her favour.
Speaking this afternoon on RTÉ’s News at One, O’Keeffe said that the letters show that the State ‘hasn’t learnt’ from how it treated abuse victims in the past.
“I’m surprised and yet not surprised at the same time,” she said.
I had hoped that following the past the State would have learned its lesson in not sending out letters like they have done so this week to survivors of such abuse in national school.
“This is the third time such letters have been sent and really it is disheartening to say the least.”
O’Keeffe went on to say that the letters amount to intimidation by the State.
“These letters are no more than the letters were in the past and try by intimidation to get people to drop their cases against the State. The State is afraid of people who will stand up for justice,” she said.
Speaking on the same programme, Minister for Education Richard Bruton said that the letters were about informing people that there are other options available beyond court cases.
“There were cases recently that were rejected by the High Court and we have to respect legal cases,” the minister said.
The High Court decided that some legal cases could not be pursued. What this is doing is offering to bring these to a close so there would not be costs being borne by people who are pursuing such cases.
“We have an ex-gratia system to try and provide for people who have been impacted in this way and they can apply to the State Claims Agency for support.”
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Information hitting at the end of the weekly news cycle and the day after the Dail goes on holiday for 10 weeks i.e. can’t be raised at leaders questions.
Low, even by the standards of this shower.
FC… This is the type of thing that will hopefully only grow legs over the summer. Usually this time of year is traditionally silly season but here for a change, and I’m in no way making light of this, the media have a nice juicy story with a human interest element and the nation in outrage. The fuсkers could find themselves coming back to an absolute monster.
I’m sure Sinn Fein will have the courage to raise it without the cloak of Dail privilege.
They all have active Twitter accounts.
Mary Lou already raised it in the dail
Mary Lou raised the issue in the dail
They did
Establishment at it again under who’s watch did it happen this time ff fg Labour ?
@ For Connolly……don’t think anbody would disagree with you….. you hit the nail on the head what a shower of low lifes……..
Why am I not surprised. What I would like to know is what is Richard bruton on about.
First paragraph of the story.
PEOPLE ABUSED WHILE in Irish national schools have received letters from lawyers representing the Department of Education, advising them that they face significant costs if they are not successful in legal cases against the department.
Richard bruton..Minister for Justice Richard Bruton said that the letters were about informing people that there are other options available beyond court cases.
What’s the other options? Drop the case, dont proceed . What is he talking about?
I have not read the letter but what Bruton refers to with ex gratia payments is I assume suggesting that the state will pay compensation without a need to to court.
FEAR is the greatest weapon the state use against us, those intimidating letters are worded exactly to have that affect.
More about the letter from rte and Irish times
Lawyers representing the Department of Education and the State have written to people who were sexually abused in schools as children warning them to withdraw legal cases against it or potentially face significant costs.
The letters cite recent High Court judgments which found that a European Court of Human Rights ruling of State liability in the Louise O’Keeffe case was not applicable in other actions currently before the courts.
The letters say the State parties are prepared to bear their own costs in proceedings to date, but only on the strict condition that the cases are withdrawn within 21 days.
revelations that lawyers for the department and the Attorney General wrote to the legal representatives of childhood abuse sufferers calling on them to withdraw their litigation or face the prospect of legal costs.
Details of the letter were reported on RTÉ and follow rulings from the High Court that the Louise O’Keeffe European Court of Human Rights judgment while binding on the State did not apply in the High Court.
http://news.google.ie/news/url?sr=1&sa=t&ct2=en_ie%2F0_0_s_1_0_t&usg=AFQjCNEnCXl23mPAS7R5kSoIp8PtM8a6BA&did=2a1932e8b8fa3eac&cid=52779165474090&ei=gF-SV-iVJcPR1Qas7YnYCA&rt=STORY&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rte.ie%2Fnews%2F2016%2F0722%2F804118-education-abuse-court%2F
There will be suicides triggered by that letter, does Bruton realise this???
So an EU directive on water charging is ‘iron clad according to FG and their puppet masters in current Dail FF. Yet a ruling by ECHR is not. Cherry picking anyone???
It would be irresponsible if we, operating collectively as the State, didn’t advise claimants of the risks.
Or is it better to stay quiet and let the court decide?
Wow I mean wow. Could you stoop any lower really as a human.
Alphanautica. How is this acting responsible as the state. If this how the state operates against victims of abuse. It’s not in my name. It’s a disgrace.
So how is this OK?
The letters say the State parties are prepared to bear their own costs in proceedings to date, but only on the strict condition that the cases are withdrawn within 21 days.
Withdrawn…….
Disgusting. Not in the least surprising. Fine Gael have form on this. One only has to look at Michael Noonan and what he did to the Bridget McCole and other hep c sufferers.
Discusting intimidation from the department. The pursuit of justice should be fiscally irrelevant
good thing we have lawyers and judges!
Disgraceful behaviour by the state
And their water will be turned down to a trickle.
Not surprised. I’d say if you dug a little deeper you would find a lot of pervy teachers. They don’t want that. I can name two. One was the headmaster of our national school. And his charming grand daughter who is very proud of her grandfather’s history with the school is the parents representative in the board of management. And their in lies the problem. The majority vote for the charmers who don’t care bout right or wrong. I feel sick about Brutons decision. He cares not for the abused child. Just saving a few bob
Louise O’Keeffe was pushed to the sidelines by FG/Lab as they paraded Maria Cahill for political gain.
Correct Al, if fact Kenny was ignoring her request to meet with him. I can only imagine the insult that was added to this womans injury at that time.
Sad that Al considers communication of rape by an IRA activist as ” parading”. Shows some standard but then it is SF/IRA!
Louise was not assaulted by anyone connected with Sinn Fein as Mairia allegedly was, so there was no political capital in supporting her – disgraceful discrimination by the state!
Sad that Powerabbey can’t see that FG/Lab only cared about how to use Maria Cahill and had no interest in what she suffered.
Sad that Al and his acolytes only want to cover up the abuse of minors by IRA members. Shine a light on others but keep their own abuses in the dark.
No apology yet from the head boys in SF/IRA for the movement of paedophiles throughout the republic.
State & church still in cahoots with each other, its disgusting, what about free legal aid? If a convicted killer can get it , then people who have been abused should also be entitled to it.
Church control the courts. Judges etc attend the Annual Roman Catholic Red Mass. Need we say more
Being abused once is horrific..but being abused for a second time ( by the State) where “all children are cherished equally”….is unthinkable, and so , SO unnessary….for what? To save a few €?????Not in my name , thank you.
Compare this reaction by the state with its attitude in the Mairia Cahill story when they thought they could attack Sinn Fein with it!
That’s if somebody was abused. Many cases are tragic and bonafide but will be erroneous. The state is just warning that the law is the law and unless you have evidence of sorts of can prove you were a victim, you could lose the case. You can’t expect Joe and Josephine tax-payer to pay up for erroneous cases.
Off the they didn’t warn of the risks of court cases they would be condemned. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Not surprised .It’s FG SOP in these cases to use intimidation. They’re living in the past though where it would have taken months for this story break in the news papers and percolate with the damage would already been done before the public had a chance to voice their outrage. Now the usual bullies have already been called out. This absolutely reeks of the type of thing Noonan used to get up to….
The State is and always has been run by pyschotic evil b*****ds and this is further proof of that if u needed it.
And people talk about the Catholic Church?
And who were the patrons of these national schools?
Yes, people DO talk about the Catholic Church; and for very good reason. Of I point out Stalin’s inhumanity, it DOES NOT mean I am somehow exhonerating Hitler.
Typical of the corporate welfare FG/FF government. One, FF covered up child sexual abuse for decades. The cover up facilitated the child rapists in carrying out more rape of the countries children.
FG are only concerned about sexual abuse when it can be used as a political football against its political opponents, otherwise it’s a penny pinching exercise of intimidation against those who suffered sexual abuse as children.
Noonan is the master of such intimidation. He hounded a sick woman to death to save the state a few paltry euro. Noonan while also of health ran like a scalded cat away from people who wanted an inquiry into the wholesale sexual abuse of children in the SE of the country.
The human misery of ordinary people, whether as abused children, or the homeless, or the sick, or the old, or kids living in poverty going to bed hungry, mean absolutely nothing to either FG or FF.
As long as they have the money for writedowns for the likes of redacted, or can pay bankrupt developers obscene sums to keep them in gravy and absolve their debts, refuse inquiries into the wholesale corruption that NAMA is mired in, fight against a corporation that owes the state billions in taxes, pay judges an extra 20,000 a year, organise pay rises for themselves, everything is hunkydory in this cesspool of corruption, that passes for a democracy.
That’s exactly where this FG/FF’s government interests lie. The rest of us simply don’t matter, we are a burden, an obstacle to corporate welfare, to be milked at every hands turn.
We can’t have these greedy abuse victims getting their hands on taxpayers coin now can we. Former judge now barrister Barry White needs these funds to eek out a living.
“He said his pension entitlements, which have been cut by over a third, were not enough to meet the needs of his family.
He earned a salary of between €145,000-€240,000 during his 12 years as a judge and received a €250,000 lump sum on retirement.
The court heard he also inherited over €1m from his late mother’s estate.”
Poor Judge….surely his grown up and married children can look after themselves?
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/retired-judge-allowed-to-work-as-barrister-due-to-financial-necessity-746147.html
Fingers crossed that minister Bruton and his like die a horrible death soon very soon
This should be looked upon as done with criminals threatening witnesses.
This is disgusting. I know FG don’t do accountability but that’s what these people are fighting for. I doubt they care much about the money, it’s about the abusers taking responsibility for their vile abuse. They really are on another planet.
We are the State in case you haven’t noticed. The only cash the State has is from the citizens of the State. It’s not some alien entity with any means separate to that of the people.
Is it wrong to advise people of the risk of going to court rather than avail of the claim process that is available?
Would it be better that, should their decision to sue in court fail, that claimants not be aware they could be hit for costs because their own lawyers didn’t advise them of the reality?
Alpha. Are you saying only citizens of the state pay tax?
I wonder where Jo45 and Tommy aka Dane are??
True, we, the citizens of the state also receive tax from corporate entities to be used for the purposes of our state.
Is that what you were asking?
Alpha. Don’t try and move the goalposts it will not work with me.
Make your point if you have one.
Alpha.the only cash the state has is from the citizens of the state. Not true is it.
We are the State, regardless of the source the State coffers are the coffers of the State. Are you making a point or just being pedantic. What difference does the source of the cash make, it’s State cash?
Alpha. Enough of the deflecting. What is your opinion on the treatment of Louise O’Keefe by the State.
Deflecting? You just asked the question
Alpha. And what is your opinion on the treatment of Louise O’Keefe by the state. For the second time.
He’d have to get permission from his puppet master before giving his own true opinion. All he does is sprout the party line.
Sad but true Gerard.
I’m not surprised Louise. There just pen pushers and nothing else…
Crowd funding is the answer and then when victims are allocated compensation & legal costs, the legal costs could then be put in a fund to legally assist other victims of sexual abuse.
have your say