Archbishop leads tributes to ‘fearless’ journalist Raftery

ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin has led tributes to a groundbreaking journalist who lifted the lid on clerical and institutional abuse in Ireland.

Mary Raftery’s fearless investigations to uncover generations of abuse led to several state inquiries which shocked the nation.

She died yesterday at the age of 54 following an illness, and is survived by her husband, David Waddell, and their son, Ben.

Archbishop Martin said work by the late broadcaster and journalist contributed to the Church being a better place for children.

“I believe that through her exposition of sins of the past and of the moment that the Church is a better place for children and a place which has learned many lessons,” he said.

The award-winning broadcaster was best known for 1999 RTÉ documentary series, States Of Fear, which unveiled the extent of physical and sexual abuse suffered by children in the Irish childcare system during the 20th century, particularly in industrial and special schools run by religious orders on behalf of the state. It was followed by a co-authored book on the issue.

The Government responded with the setting up of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.

The Ryan Report revealed the Church hierarchy and Government covered up almost four decades of sexual abuse and beatings by priests and nuns on thousands of children in state care, with serial abusers moved from school to school.

Ms Raftery also produced and directed Prime Time Investigates: Cardinal Secrets in 2001, which led to the Murphy Report into child sexual abuse in Dublin and, later, in Cloyne. It found the Catholic Hierarchy in Ireland was granted immunity to cover up child sex abuse among paedophile priests in Dublin.

RTÉ director-general Noel Curran said Raftery’s journalism was defined by determination and fearlessness. “Her record in broadcasting is extraordinary, and not just in current affairs, with which she is most associated,” he said.

Andrew Madden, a survivor of child abuse and a leading campaigner, said he will be forever grateful to Ms Raftery for exposing the scandals.

Colm O’Gorman, a survivor who set up the One In Four support group, said in Ms Raftery the country has lost one of its finest journalists.

After leaving the staff of RTÉ in 2002, Ms Raftery wrote a column for the Irish Times and taught in the Centre for Media Studies at NUI Maynooth. In April 2010, her play No Escape, based on the Ryan Report, was staged at the Peacock Theatre in Dublin.

Her last documentary, Behind The Walls, was broadcast last September.

John Kelly, of Irish Survivors of Child Abuse, said Ms Raftery’s death is a cause of deep sadness for all survivors who remember her enormous contribution to the revelations of historical child abuses in Ireland’s enclosed institutions.