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A SECOND IRISH person is planning to take a case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the issue of child abuse in Irish schools.
In 2014 the ECHR found the Irish State was liable for abuse suffered by Cork woman Louise O’Keeffe during her schooldays.
Prior to that judgement, both the High Court and Supreme Court had ruled that the State was not liable for the abuse O’Keeffe suffered.
Following the ECHR ruling, the State said it would make settlement offers of up to €84,000 to people with cases similar to O’Keefe’s but only seven people have received settlements in the four years since.
The government argues that the ECHR decision applies only to people who were abused after an initial complaint was made against a teacher and no action was taken.
This has been widely criticised with survivors saying it essentially means that the second child abused by a teacher is entitled to a settlement but the first is not. O’Keeffe herself described it as “discrimination of the highest order”.
‘I am not a doormat’
TheJournal.ie has spoken to a number of men who were sexually abused by their teachers as children but have never received redress – John Allen who attended North Monastery CBS in Cork and Christopher Rainbow and Thomas Hogan who went to Creagh Lane National School in Limerick.
Today John Allen is sending an application to the Europe Court of Human Rights. He told TheJournal.ie, “Ireland blatantly refuses to implement Louise O Keeffe’s ruling.
“The ECHR said the State had liability but it refuses to implement it. That’s why I have to go again. Ireland is the only country that a second person has had to go to Europe on a similar issue as Louise O’Keeffe.
The insanity lies with a dysfunctional country and not a damaged child.
Earlier this month the Dáil passed a motion seeking redress for victims of child sex abuse in state-schools whose perpetrators have been convicted.
Allen added, “It is insane that a Dáil motion was passed and yet ignored. A defiance of democracy.
I carry the flag for all children who were treated so badly in school. Some of our political masters (those who voted against the Motion) need to be brought to their senses.
“I am not a doormat, I have constitutional and human rights which have been ignored.”
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Meanwhile many mindless sealots will welcome the pope to Ireland this month with open arms claiming he is different and everything has changed. .
The pope, leader of the Catholic Church and head of the Vatican. The same Vatican that has refused to release its records for abuse investigations taking place in Ireland, Australia, USA, Germany etc… Oh and they’ve also denied a release request for a previous UN investigation.
The pope will no doubt come here and smile like the PR man he is and give some meaningless apology about the hurt people feel.
But the pope and the Vatican still won’t release any records and the Catholic church still won’t pay the 200 million it owes to Irish abuse victims.
The state is using Micheal Noonan’s tactics. Leave them to die and the state will owe them nothing. Despite all his fine empty words Leo is trying the same tactic on the women how are in dying from avoidable cervical cancer.
Yet in the likes of Calinan, O’Sullivan, the ex governer of the Central bank, Tony O Brien, John Tierney etc the government cite “contractural obligations” to justify huge payments and pensions worth millions. There’s no problem at all.
The state had a contractural obligation to the children in its care, i.e. those attending school. They didn’t fulfill their obligations. And they are doing all that they can, including hoping death gets them off the hook, to avoid their duty to those who were abused.
The Catholic Church still controls most of our schools, with substantial State backing.
Four pieces of heavy leather about a 16 inch,s long with a lead weight stitched in the middle tapered at one end for a handle with no other function than to beat a child and still using it well into the 80,s but hey no big deal got to love the Christian brothers
The state is dysfunctional. Ponder the implications of such an allegation. Serious thinking required by many citizens.
Corporal punishment was outlawed in Irish schools in 1973. It wasn’t removed from British schools until some years later. Have there been court cases in the UK?
@Garreth Byrne: this is about sexual child abuse. Not run of the mill corpral punishment. Daft comment!
@Garreth Byrne: was still getting the leather in the 80s !
@Garreth Byrne: corporal punishment was alive and well in Irish schools well into the 90′s. As a former ‘problem’ student myself I can attest to priests dealing out thrashings on a daily basis, and taking sadistic pleasure from it
Best of luck John …. it’s an absolute travesty that John Allen has to go to the ECHR to fight his case. He was abused in a state school by a state employee…. at the time the state was well aware of the level of sexual abuse perpetrated against children in our state … by the level of court convictions … and also by the knowledge the then Dept of Educ had in respect of children sexual abuse but chose to ignore ( see Ryan Report)…. therefore the state ought to have done something about it but didn’t. They now have a chance to do something about it now but are unwilling … hence John has to fight his case in Europe when he should be taking care of himself instead. Imagine treating victims of child sexual abuse worse than the church … imagine if that could be possible.
Good luck with the Application Mr Allen it is sometime the only way the State Civil Servants will take notice the errors of their way even after the Ms O’Keeffe case the Judges never ever apologized and even did not accept the verdict
As I posted here before.
2 of my friends committed suicide due to abuse by teachers in primary school. The teachers are still teaching 35 years later, in the same school.
He was barred from contacting the school because he repeatedly phoned them to tell them of the abuse and the school reported him to the gardai for harassing them.
@io music: You need to contact the DES and the Teaching Council.
@io music: yes u should contact Dept of Educ and Tusla … I’ve just followed u on Twitter if u want to follow me back for a PM. Tx
I was just reading somewhere about a case where a man was followed and lost his job when coincidentally he reported an adult tickling a child to the crowd who had him followed.
Typical Banana Republic of Ireland, the most backwards country in the western world!!
A country build on nepotism and cronyism!
@Matt Beaumont: banana republic that’s gold
@Matt Beaumont:
No better analogy than to compare Ireland to a banana. We live in the BIG BANANA. The banana needs to replace the harp asap. Truth rather than hypocrisy . Let’s live in hope.
In my view,:
there will always be evil.. but when we start to prosecute enablers and people who knew but did nothing…Then things will change. If you know and do nothing you ARE an accessory, this includes guards and principals etc. Who turned blind eyes.
@Pete Lee:
P.S.
NO Accountability is the Irish disease…
@Pete Lee: Pixie heads
Typical Banana Republic of Ireland, the most backwards country in the western world!!
Everything is build on nepotism or cronyism and the people in charge are a bunch of corrupt idiots without any morals or dignity!
What a cesspit of a country!
Religions and the constant negativity they contribute have no place in society. They are nothing but crutches and blindfolds.
There was abuse by male teacher in primary school I attended towards girls he is ling dead but he abused every girl at some stage from 4th 5th 6th class . One girl reported years later that he raped her as preteen and no doubt he may have raped others …….people still won’t even talk about it because they carry his shame for him …..he was reported to parish priest nothing was done ……
Aaah look at the Holy Father smiling…he’s mad about the irish isn’t he. Shure God love him and aren’t we the best catholics in the world afterall.
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