Legacy of abuse will 'never end unless survivors are heard'

Abuse survivor William Gorry (centre) as he joins clerical sex abuse protesters at the GPO on O'Connell St, Dublin, in 2018. File picture: Aaron Chown/PA

The legacy of abuse in Ireland, whether through institutional facilities, day schools, Magdalene laundries, or mother and baby homes, will “never end” unless survivors are heard, a survivor of institutional abuse has said.

William Gorry of the Residential Institutional Survivor’s Network (RISN), which represents more than 2,000 survivors, said the Government’s handling of institutional abuse is not "led by survivors, for survivors" and does not bode well for those who survived mother and baby homes.

“Until survivors are given that opportunity, we cannot have full transparency or accountability,” he told the Irish Examiner.

More than a decade on from the Ryan Report, which detailed the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of children in residential institutes, the Government is failing to meet the needs of survivors and is "short of giving them a coffin", he said.

Little progress

Mr Gorry said there is little progress on consultation talks with the Department of Education to address outstanding issues, such as access to social services and supports.

“We’ve had the Ryan Report, apologies from two taoisigh, the redress scheme, the education system, and Caranua; we’ve had all of these things that were totally dissatisfactory,” he said.

A survivor of an industrial school in Co Westmeath, he said the department is “dragging its heels” and wearing survivors down, who are dying by the day or struggling with addiction or other health issues without the necessary supports.

On foot of a 2019 consultation with survivors, the department set up an interdepartmental committee to examine their future needs and engage on outstanding issues.

“It seems that what the department wants is for every survivor to be dead and gone. All they are short of doing is giving each survivor a coffin and, that’s it, off you go,” he said, estimating that half of survivors have already died.

His comments come as the Government and Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes have been roundly criticised over how the five-year inquiry was carried out and over the final report.

The mishandling of institutional abuse survivors is being repeated with mother and baby home survivors, Mr Gorry said, adding that the legacy of past abuses will never end unless the voices of survivors are heard.

“We’ll always be hearing about this in the papers, TV, and radio unless they listen to survivors,” he said.

It just gets so tiring and so distressing when you’re listening to it day in and day out. 

"It’s bad enough trying to carry and wear the child abuse every day of your life but then you’re hearing about it every day.

“This will never end because of the way it has been handled. Unless it is done in the right way, we will never get a break from it and be allowed to heal the way we would like to,” he said.

The Department of Education said the consultation group set up last year, as part of the second phase in the consultation process with survivors of institutional abuse, was “survivor-led” and involved qualified facilitators.

“The minister also met with the group in December 2020 to personally engage with survivors in Ireland and the UK and to hear directly from them about the various issues which had been identified,” a departmental spokesperson said.

“The facilitators have recently submitted the phase 2 report and its findings will be further considered by the interdepartmental group established by the department.”