Ryan report legacy - We want action, not sound bytes

Were it not for their dedication and commitment to children, matched only by the anger and frustration of the voluntary organisations at the coalface of child protection in Ireland, the Ryan report might well be consigned to a convenient shelf where it would quietly gather dust.

That’s the inescapable conclusion to be drawn from the failure of this ineffectual Government to implement promises made with fanfares of publicity, following a storm of public outrage at the Ryan expose of a cover-up by both the Catholic Church and Government of sexual and physical abuse involving priests and nuns against thousands of children in the care of state institutions. It would be hard to imagine greater evidence of a Government sitting on its hands, instead of getting on with the job of fast-tracking almost 100 actions within a set timescale under the Ryan Report Implementation Plan.

Exactly one year after the report, the penetrating scrutiny of Government inaction by eight organisations involved in combating child abuse, reveals the depressing reality of vacuous political promises, a scenario voluntary organisations have grown accustomed to from an administration that promises much but delivers little.