The allegations include sexual abuse

May 20, 2009 lobsang la

The Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said: “We are all agreed that it is appalling the vista that will emerge in respect of a bygone day that is no longer with us, thankfully.”

The BBC’s Mark Simpson said the inquiry was expected to criticise the Church’s handling of sex abuse complaints.

The institutions housed abandoned or neglected children, but courts also sent those guilty of truancy and petty crime.

Unmarried mothers were also sent to institutions known as Magdalene Laundries, many by their own families.

Abuse survivor Patrick Walsh: ‘The loss of liberty, the loss of family life was the most abusive’

Hundreds of the victims moved away from Ireland once they left the care homes and went to live in the UK.

Many of those who are alleged to have carried out the abuse are now dead

Apology

The commission was established in 2000 after the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern issued an apology on behalf of the state to the victims of child abuse.

A government compensation scheme was also established. It has already paid out almost one billion euros in compensation and legal fees to 12,500 people.

Led by Mr Justice Sean Ryan, the commission’s report is believed to be five volumes and 2,500 pages long.

Thousands of abused men and women testified to the commission, which was set up after a television series revealed the scale of the abuse.

Journalist Mary Raftery, who was behind the series, said the extent and depravity of the abuse was “profoundly shocking”.

“It is off the scale in terms of anything we have any knowledge of or any ability to deal with, particularly, as it was perpetrated, in the main, by members of religious orders,” she said.

Ms Raftery said the children ended up in “houses of horror” and were essentially locked up until they were 16.

“They emerged deeply disturbed and damaged and so many of them immediately emigrated,” she said.

“They felt their country had abandoned them as well as everything else, as well as their religion, that just stripped them bare of any kind of support.

“It is an absolutely shameful episode in our history.”

The allegations include sexual abuse and repeated beating of boys and girls with a leather strap.

Some punishments were said to be handed out for talking at mealtimes or writing left handed.

More than 100 institutions run by religious orders have been examined and the inquiry is expected to produce specific findings against a number of facilities.

Another major report is due next month on abuse by Catholic priests working in parish churches around Dublin.

The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, warned last month that it would “shock us all.”

Have you been affected by any of the issues in this story? Send us your comments using the form below.

The Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said: “We are all agreed that it is appalling the vista that will emerge in respect of a bygone day that is no longer with us, thankfully.”

The BBC’s Mark Simpson said the inquiry was expected to criticise the Church’s handling of sex abuse complaints.

The institutions housed abandoned or neglected children, but courts also sent those guilty of truancy and petty crime.

Unmarried mothers were also sent to institutions known as Magdalene Laundries, many by their own families.

Abuse survivor Patrick Walsh: ‘The loss of liberty, the loss of family life was the most abusive’

Hundreds of the victims moved away from Ireland once they left the care homes and went to live in the UK.

Many of those who are alleged to have carried out the abuse are now dead

Apology

The commission was established in 2000 after the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern issued an apology on behalf of the state to the victims of child abuse.

A government compensation scheme was also established. It has already paid out almost one billion euros in compensation and legal fees to 12,500 people.

Led by Mr Justice Sean Ryan, the commission’s report is believed to be five volumes and 2,500 pages long.

Thousands of abused men and women testified to the commission, which was set up after a television series revealed the scale of the abuse.

Journalist Mary Raftery, who was behind the series, said the extent and depravity of the abuse was “profoundly shocking”.

“It is off the scale in terms of anything we have any knowledge of or any ability to deal with, particularly, as it was perpetrated, in the main, by members of religious orders,” she said.

Ms Raftery said the children ended up in “houses of horror” and were essentially locked up until they were 16.

“They emerged deeply disturbed and damaged and so many of them immediately emigrated,” she said.

“They felt their country had abandoned them as well as everything else, as well as their religion, that just stripped them bare of any kind of support.

“It is an absolutely shameful episode in our history.”

The allegations include sexual abuse and repeated beating of boys and girls with a leather strap.

Some punishments were said to be handed out for talking at mealtimes or writing left handed.

More than 100 institutions run by religious orders have been examined and the inquiry is expected to produce specific findings against a number of facilities.

Another major report is due next month on abuse by Catholic priests working in parish churches around Dublin.

The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, warned last month that it would “shock us all.”

Have you been affected by any of the issues in this story? Send us your comments using the form below.

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