Domestic violence crisis - Government gesture too little too late

IN reaction to the continuing Irish Examiner exposé of Ireland’s epidemic of domestic violence, the Government has announced a national media campaign to raise awareness of, and help change attitudes to, a hidden scandal that is mirrored in the battered faces of women and the terrified eyes of children.

As far as it goes, the belated gesture by Equality Minister Frank Fahey is to be welcomed. But it is too little too late, wrongly conceived and doesn’t go far enough.

Perceived as a political public relations ploy by many of those working at the coalface of this nationwide crisis, it is certainly no substitute for meaningful policy initiatives.