Brendan Howlin: Ireland can no longer turn its back on the whistleblowers

We have a shameful history in how we deal with those who are brave enough to speak out against abuses of power — and this must change, says Brendan Howlin

STARTING in 1983, 46 children and young adults, most of whom had intellectual disabilities, were placed in a foster care in a home in Waterford. The abuse that some of these, most vulnerable people were allegedly subjected to was extreme — more so because the victims were not in a position to speak out. The targeting of the voiceless Grace makes her degradation and humiliation all the much harder for us to read about.

At one level, this is a story of human depravity. It reminds us of cases such as that fictionalised by Emma Donohue in Room. Cases where (usually) men use power and control to defile and demean younger (usually) women. It reminds us of the decades of child abuse in institutions across Ireland that we collectively ignored, the stain of which will never be rubbed clean. It reminds us that there are people who, if we close our eyes or turn our backs, will use our silent complicity to rape and to beat; to destroy innocence and prey upon vulnerability.