We should not stay silent over China

The carefully choreographed visit of Xi Jinping calls to mind the abject deference we once accorded to high-ranking prelates in this country, minus the ring-kissing.

Back then, no one dared question the power of the clerical shadow dictatorship.

The political and business establishments have shown the same blind, unquestioning reverence throughout the Chinese vice-president’s visit that characterised Official Ireland’s attitude to the men in purple who held sway for much of the last century. Have we have learned nothing from the Ryan and Murphy Reports? The grim silence that protected the vast system of institutional abuse was echoed eerily by the smiling politicians and captains of industry who greeted the VIP. They talked business and batted the breeze, exuding a false sense of normality. But not a word of dissent from them, not a hint of concern for the victims of a ruthless dictatorship