Claims of abuse lies are ‘deeply hurtful’

CLAIMS that people who were kept in State institutions as children are lying about being abused so they can get compensation are “deeply hurtful”, a former orphanage resident said yesterday.

A group called LOVE (Let Our Voices Emerge), which supports the religious who worked in the homes, claims people are making false allegations to win settlements.

Group founder Florence Horsman-Hogan says her stay in St Joseph's Industrial School in Ballinasloe, County Galway, was a positive experience, and she believes there is a witch-hunt against religious orders.

“What we have are people right across the board saying ‘You back up my allegation and I'll split the compensation with you’. People are coming up with scars they got accidentally and are saying they were abused,” Ms Horsman-Hogan said.

However, former Goldenbridge orphanage resident Christine Buckley said the campaign by LOVE was deeply hurtful.

“The majority of us did not get an ounce of love. It shows they have absolutely no idea of the pain we endured.”

Ms Buckley, who spearheads the Aisling Survivors Group, said LOVE is being backed by a very small number of people in the religious orders.

Buckley also criticised a recent Christian Brothers’ statement that denied there was widespread sexual abuse in institutions run by the order.

“If they do not accept it, why did they take out an ad in every single newspaper some years ago expressing their sorrow for the hurt caused to victims of abuse?” she asked.

Buckley believes the majority of victims in institutions endured appalling abuse. “It was for this reason that the Taoiseach apologised, that the Laffoy Commission was established in Ireland, and that similar investigations found abuse in similar institutions run by Irish religious around the world,” she said.

“It is sad that the Christian Brothers are persistently failing to address the pain caused to victims in their institutions,” Ms Buckley said.