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Child abuse: Let’s hear it from Enda and RTÉ

A year ago Enda Kenny stood up in the Dáil and made a grandstanding/demagogic speech lacerating the Catholic Church’s record in the area of child welfare.

The speech contained a number of specific accusations regarding Vatican interference in Enda’s “sovereign state”. In fact, the accusations proved to be untrue.

Admittedly the atmosphere at the time was a veritable hot-bed of media driven anti-Catholic hysteria.

However, one would have expected an experienced politician to be more circumspect in his use of words, and to refrain from providing ammunition for an already over-excited media pack.

The resultant level of commentary reached fever-pitch. The national broadcaster went into virtual overdrive with wall-to-wall coverage and blanket condemnations.

The culmination of the various knee-jerk reactions was the petulant/childish closure of the Irish Embassy to the Vatican, the only English-speaking embassy to remain open during World War II, and which saved thousands of Jewish and Allied soldiers lives.

Fast track one year forward. Reports reveal that hundreds of children have died in the care of Enda’s “sovereign state”. The reaction: On a ‘compare and contrast’ basis, it couldn’t have been more different than a year ago.

To use but one example: RTÉ’s Liveline which turned into a sounding post for every kind of anti-Catholic view, has remained strangely silent in relation to the abuse. I used to think that conspiracy theories were for the over-imaginative. Not any more.

Eric Conway
Balreask Village
Navan
Co Meath

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