Secrecy law on abuse provokes suspicions

One of the reasons that the Catholic Church no longer enjoys the influence it once did is that it, as an institution and as individuals, routinely protected paedophiles to avert scandal. This collusion with evil is essentially the practice of silence, the facility to look away in the hope that by denying recognition reality might be denied too.

The State has put itself in a position that leaves it open to very similar accusations of silencing, of denying witness. Legislation proposes to ringfence thousands of testimonies relating to child abuse in residential institutions. Records are, under the proposed legislation, to be sealed and “withheld from public scrutiny” for 75 years. Even though testimony was given in confidence, this seems a step too far. It also suggests that all of those who gave evidence required anonymity, though that seems very unlikely.

Historian Catríona Crowe has challenged the Retention of Records Bill 2019 which will “override the 1986 National Archives Act” in relation to the records and set “a dangerous and unnecessary precedent”.

These documents detail a harrowing part of our history and can hardly be secreted away if we are to reach a reliable understanding of our past.

Records can be redacted or witnesses’ identity kept secret but the detail is an undeniable strand in the story of Ireland. It is hard to understand whose interests are being served by this legislation and it is very hard not to be deeply suspicious — again.