Child abuse debacle: we need clear thinking – not conspiracy theories

IN THE early 1990s, a member of the Christian Brothers was watching television from his home in Western Canada. He tuned into live coverage of the Hughes Inquiry then underway in Newfoundland. The inquiry was investigating allegations of abuse by Christian Brothers in Newfoundland’s Mount Cashel Orphanage.

To the Brother's horror, he heard accusations made against himself on television. It was the first he'd heard of the charges. He travelled 3,000 miles across Canada to defend his reputation before the Hughes Inquiry. He was exonerated, but was deeply traumatised both by the allegations and the very public context in which they were made.

This man's experience should be a warning to those who think that, in the wake of the Judge Mary Laffoy's resignation as chairperson of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, a televised public inquiry, as suggested by columnist Fintan O'Toole in yesterday's Irish Times, might be appropriate.