Crowds pay their respects to ‘voice for the voiceless’
During the ceremony at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham in Dublin, the congregation remembered how the 54 year-old journalist had acted as “a voice for the voiceless”.
Ms Raftery was best known for the 1999 States of Fear series, 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.
She 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.
Her husband David Waddell said she had been confronted by a number of institutions, including RTÉ, while trying to complete the series.
Her close friend and researcher on that series, Sheila Ahern, remembered not just her courage, but also her softer side. “I have lost my best friend but she’ll never be far from my heart,” she said.
Chief mourners were Raftery’s husband David and their son Ben as well as her mother, sister and brothers.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny was represented by Cmdt Mick Treacy, while President Michael D Higgins was represented by Captain Emmet Harney. After the ceremony Ms Raftery’s wicker coffin was taken to Mount Jerome in Harold’s Cross, Dublin where she was cremated.
