Clodagh Finn: Balance of power shifts when even the quietest voice speaks out

Our track record on putting survivors first is appalling — this needs to change

Blackrock College past pupils Corry McMahon (left) and Louis Hoffman at a joint news briefing with the Spiritans in Ireland, at the RDS last week. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

What struck me most about Corry McMahon when he spoke out about the abuse inflicted on him by two priests, Senan Corry and Aloysius Flood, at Blackrock College in Dublin was not only his immense courage and dignity, but something more profound.

In that moment, the balance of power shifted — away from a closed, hierarchical institution that facilitated such horror and back to the 12-year-old boy who suffered so much because of it.