Inquisition 21
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Ireland
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Ireland
Scroll down for 'Voices emerge in Ireland' - under 'Perfect Inquisition legislation'
Silver lining?
There is one silver lining in Ireland. The tide may be turning in the sex abuse obsession. First though an indication of how bad it has been.
See ‘Act of infamy – the Nora Wall story’ under Country by country' main.
Apart from stories such as that of the nun Nora Wall, and the professional misconduct of child sex abuse expert witness Dr Moira Woods (see below), there have been fewer profile cases of single individuals or single institutions compared with the other English speaking countries. Instead, there have been major scandals concerning sex abuse by Catholic priests and a savage and revisionist attack on the residential institutions that housed orphans and other deprived children.
As a result of a TV programme called States of Fearand other media activity, a 'Redress' programme was set up by the government. As part of its remit, the redress commission advertised nationwide for victims of residential abuse to come forward and claim compensation, even though such an action would result in these claimants accusing former custodians of schools and residential centers of criminal actions. There has been a huge response from claimants.
The Irish government still appears unaware that in Canada a similar ‘open-handed’ compensation scheme for alleged victims of abuse in residential schools was severely criticised in an official report by Quebec appeal court judge Fred Kaufman in 2000. Kaufman found that a Nova Scotia scheme costing only $61 million to be ‘a recipe for disaster’, as, spurred by the compensation programme, around 1,300 former residents at the schools had filed claims that led to hundreds of former teachers and care workers being implicated as abusers.
Kaufman blamed the travesty on a previous judicial investigation of abuse claims in 1995, in which a former chief justice of New Brunswick, Stuart Stratton, had presumed the truth of claims on tenuous grounds made in the wake of one conviction. He criticized the public perception of ‘widespread systemic abuse’. The mounting claims triggered by the compensation programme had led the provincial government justice department to set up an investigation that concluded that the vast majority of claims were unfounded.
His report recommended robust systems to test the reliability of abuse claims in compensation cases in fairness to those accused, to genuine victims and the public who might become unduly alarmed about the extent of alleged child abuse.
Back in Ireland, where this appears to be unknown, the States of Fear programme saw little if anything other than abuse in the former residential homes run by nuns and brothers. Many older people living in Ireland who had close contact with some of those institutions, remembered the kindness and affection shown within them to orphans, often rejected by their own families. The custodians who had given what affection they could were now old, dead and defamed. While so-called abuse was widespread, there was certainly much more of it in the homes from which children were dispatched to institutions than in the institutions. A much better word than 'abuse' might be 'deprived' compared to the present generation. The title 'States of Fear' addressed to the institutions might now be more aptly applied to a country run by a generation in fear of the past of their parents and living in shame at what they have now brought down upon us all.
This peak of injustice, however, has finally caused a backlash. Outraged by the sheer volume of allegations, and the one-sided official and media viewpoint, by huge compensation awards and the emergence of 'celebrity victims', the Christian Brothers finally hit back and issued a statement saying that they did not accept 'the now established perception that there was widespread, systematic, sexual abuse in their residential institutions'. At this point a group of women, former residents of homes managed by the nuns, emerged claiming that many of the allegations against the nuns were false and based on hopes of compensation. They have formed an organization called LOVE (Let Our Voices Be Heard) dedicated to supporting the nuns who ran the residential homes for girls, nuns who have been pilloried in a witch hunt and are now the targets for massive compensation claims, many if not most based on false allegations. Their web site can be seen at LOVE. They can be contacted at Voicesmerge.
They were joined recently in their fight by the more powerful British False Memory Society, which to the consternation of the groups representing compensation-seeking victims came to Ireland to warn of the dangers of false allegations for profit. The response from John Kelly of SOCA, an organization representing ‘survivors’ was interesting. His press release headed ‘Our memories are not false’ claimed that the ‘so-called British False Memory Society’ had come to Dublin to assist ‘a local abuser-support organization’ to advance the lie that the memories of people who suffered years of abuse in Industrial Schools were false or defective. Now supporters of most of the nuns and brothers had become ‘abuser supporters’. In screaming bold italics, the release went on: “We don't need racist stereotypical remarks from those whose purpose is to bring comfort and succour to pedophiles!” It closed thus: “Both the BFMS and LOVE are engaged in a diabolical alliance designed to attack the integrity of thousands of survivors of Ireland's Industrial Schools system. The BFMS/LOVE conspiracy will be exposed as a programme of FALSE DENIAL.”
It is fascinating – abuser supporters, advance the lie, racist, comfort and succour to pedophiles, a diabolical alliance, conspiracy, false denial. It reads like one of the Nazi anti-Semite rants.
However, both the Christian Brothers and the nuns were, and still are, 'sitting ducks' incapable of defending themselves. One could offer help, but they are not able to accept it. There is a huge opportunity here for the makers of false allegations to be exposed, but it may be missed.
Expert witnesses
The tide is turning against ‘expert witnesses’ in sex abuse everywhere. The professional misconduct of Dr Moira Woods, who was responsible for removing children from parents and testifying in the prosecution of alleged offenders can be seen in detail at the report of the Dr Moira Woods Inquiry at http://www.falseallegations.com/dr-moira-woods-guilty-professional-misconduct.htm/.
Child porn in Ireland
See You will find some information under Child pornography in the menu on left.
The Irish child porn legislation is less repressive than that in the UK as one must 'knowingly' possess it, whereas in the UK even innocent possession, such as accidentally stumbling upon it or being spammed with it can make one guilty.
Ireland, however, is home to one of the European Internet child porn watchdogs, Max Taylor, who is supported by University College Cork. Some of his activities and writings are described on this web site, in the Child pornography section
Register of false accusers
The new Irish group LOVE (Let Our Voices Emerge) is setting up a long overdue register of false accusers, It is called the ‘Hotline for false child abuse allegations’. It will make people think before making one false accusation and think twice or more before making two or more.
LOVE was set up to support all people claiming false allegations of child abuse, but came into being initially as a result of its conviction that many allegations against the religious orders in Ireland were false and motivated by compensation. In addition to the religious, they believe that the good names and lives of many lay people, doctors, nurses, teachers, childcare workers, and parents have been destroyed by false allegations of child abuse.
They hope now that by providing a forum for those stating false allegations and stories of the suffering caused, they will not only restore in part their good names but also discourage false claims of child abuse. They are particularly concerned that Ireland’s state-funded Redress Board, set up to compensate victims of residential abuse, provides no protection against false allegations. They point to the injustice of those falsely accused, cleared by the courts, now hearing that their accusers are receiving compensation.
They have three interview points for personal consultation in Ireland, but can be contacted by those falsely accused at Voicesmerge.Their web site can be seen at LOVE. Anonymity is guaranteed.
Perfect Inquisition legislation
The above was just published when we learned this.
It’s an offence to name false accusers
It’s the perfect Inquisition legislation. False accusers have the protection of the law. Noel Dempsey, TD, is the government minister responsible for the Residential Institutions Redress Board, the body set up to compensate the thousands who are claiming compensation for abuse while in residence in state and religious institutions in Ireland, most of them many years ago. On June 23 2004, he replied to a letter from Florence Horsman Hogan, who chairs the new organization LOVE that has been set up to defend the religious and to expose cases of false allegations and the injustice done to the falsely accused. A main plank in the LOVE campaign is that by advertising for victims of residential abuse to come forward, identify their abusers and receive compensation, the State itself has set in motion a programme that is resulting in many false allegations.
After Minister Dempsey dealt with her questions relating to the procedures through which the allegations are made, he wrote the following, which could reasonably be construed as a ‘shot across the bows’ of LOVE, as he is well aware of their objectives. He wrote:
“In order to protect the identity of an applicant and a named person, nobody shall publish any information concerning an application, which could identify an applicant, a named person or an institution. In the event any person discloses any information that could lead to an applicant, a named person or an institution being identified, they commit an offence and are liable on conviction on indictment to be fined up to €25,000 or imprisoned for up to a period of 2 years or both under the terms of the Redress Act 2002.”
It can now be seen that the Redress Act 2002 is very complete. Both LOVE and friends close to it know of a number of cases where false allegations have been made against certain individuals for the purposes of obtaining compensation. It was from within Ireland that the idea of creating a Register of False Accusers arose. It was to be privately held and only when it signaled that the same person had made more than one allegation would that information be offered to the lawyers of those accused. Now under the Redress Act even to share such information between innocently accused individuals is an offense, and also criminalized are writers and journalists trying to publish stories of false allegations.
On July 7, LOVE asked the Redress Board the following questions and awaits the answers.
1. Has the RIRB under the Redress Board Act 2002 taken any action against persons who have exposed some of our members to the media? e.g. Mr John Prior in the Sunday World and Ms Mary Raftery on RTE?
2. Where a person is accused of abuse in the Redress Board how many people have availed of the cross-examination facility. Of these how many had charges dropped against them?
3. The Redress Board provide legal advice for persons alleging abuse. Is the same facility available for those accused of abuse.
4. How does the Board facilitate the “protection and vindication” of “the personal and other rights” of the accused.
5. Under the 1998 Act for Persons Reporting Cases of Child Abuse, Section 5 allows for the accused to report false allegations. Does this Act cover persons accused in the Redress Board?
If the answers to these questions demonstrate that the falsely accused, and journalists representing them, cannot name accusers, but that editors and journalists with an ideological agenda can name any accused, then we do indeed have a system of justice that supports an ideological social agenda, and does not support truth and justice.
Voices emerge in Ireland
The charity founded by Irish woman Florence Horsman Hogan is beginning to make its mark. Horsman Hogan set up Let Our Voices Emerge (LOVE) to represent those falsely accused under the Irish government’s draconian Residential Institutions Redress Board, which advertised widely for all those who believed they were victims of abuse while in the care of State or Church homes to come forward, name their alleged abusers, and accept significant compensation.
The response, as could be expected, was overwhelming and the talk is now that the scheme could cost the state up to 1,000 million Euros. The Redress Board went ahead in the face of experience from other countries such as Canada that had already discovered the extent of the false allegations such a scheme would encourage. In Ireland, nuns and brothers and lay carers were named, as well as other children and teenagers who had shared the homes with the accusers. Where a suitable target could not easily be found, some accusers made allegations against families that had given them weekend breaks and holidays by taking them into their own homes.
The huge amounts on offer to those making the allegations are a tribute to the honesty and honour of former institution residents such as Florence Horsman Hogan and a few of her friends and other former residents, who stood firm, and shocked by hearing of false allegations against nuns to whom they owed loyalty and gratitude, and by the sheer audacity and dishonesty of some of the claims from former residents they had shared homes with, they set up LOVE to defend the former carers and to try to expose the false allegations.
It was a hard fight as the victim groups fought back fiercely and the media did not want to know about ‘the absence of abuse’ only about ‘the existence of abuse’ wherever it could be found. One cynical journalist remarked to us that ‘a carer falsely accused is not news but a child abused is news’.
Now LOVE plans to take legal action against the Irish Government for an apology and or compensation on behalf of those accused in the Redress Board, and Florence Horsman Hogan has called on all of those who are going through or have gone through the RIRB process of being named (and shamed) to contact her if they want to take part in the campaign to get an apology, and or compensation, for being falsely accused through the RIRB.
She says: “Those accused in the RIRB, had no chance of defence once the allegation was made. The definition of abuse ensures that even if not guilty of the actual allegation made, their name will be used to be compensated against.
The RIRB has breached the laws of natural justice. If you take a look at
LOVE in the Information section on the (Canadian) Kaufman report, and the LOVE news section, you'll see how the Canadians have already succeeded. For all of you who have been targeted now is your chance to restore your good name.
Contact Florence Horsman Hogan, PRO: Let Our Voices Emerge.
Ireland
Act of infamy - the Nora Wall story
Satanic abusers hunting in packs
Judge Brian Curtin – another appalling vista.
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