We need to remember Ann Lovett
I visited the grotto and grave last year. It is wonderful to read another human being express openly the sense of sorrow they feel at the tragic circumstances of that cold, dark Tuesday, Jan 31,1984.
Unlike Mr Meaney, I was not born at the time of the tragedy. I was born 2 years later, so had her son survived we would be around the same age today. What strikes me, therefore, as most disturbing in 2014, is how little my generation knows about the sad events of that day.
This is a point that Clare-born journalist Rosita Boland made on Twitter just last year when addressing the fact that none of her college class of future journalists, in 2013, had any idea who Ann Lovett was.
It is this gap in our collective consciousness, combined with my own background as a child born during the mid-80s and given up for adoption in a climate of taboo and secrecy, that drew me to this story.
My generation is the product of that environment and in order to understand and shape our current generation we must look always to where we came from as a starting point. The guardians of our society have this responsibility. Should they fulfil that role, then people will naturally follow suit. To miss this chance for emotional and social healing, and learning, is detrimental for innumerable reasons in both the short and long term.
This becomes blindingly obvious when one considers that it will one day be the responsibility of today’s generation to assume the mantle of guardianship for the next one.
It is, as such, that I applaud Mr Meaney’s heartfelt words.
I would encourage more public figures to engage in this type of public expression of emotional and real connection, for humanity’s sake.
The political class are quick to use their influence on the population while guiding them, often blindly, in the interest of the so-called “greater good”. What greater good is there, however, than remembering those who suffered unnecessarily and keeping them alive in our consciousness in order to avoid further loss and pain? The legacy of those with influence in society, whether that influence is justified or not, is a matter for each to take into their own hands. Their own actions decide the nature of the legacy and mark they leave on their community, their country, and ultimately all of humanity.
Perhaps a case exists for the publication of the reports surrounding the case of Ann Lovett which were compiled at the time by the gardaí, the Midlands Health Board and the Department of Education. Indeed President Michael D Higgins, a prominent figure in the seminal debate that ensued, could perhaps use his influence to initiate a national commemoration for Ann and her child on Jan 31 each year.
One poignant thing Mr Meaney may notice on his intended visit to Granard is that there is no recognition of this sad event in the form of a plaque with Ann’s name or that of her child, acknowledging what happened that day at the grotto. This perhaps might be a simple and fitting way to start the process of keeping the memory of Ann and her child alive for future generations.
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