Letters to the Editor: Conviction of judge should encourage other victims of sexual assault
Circuit court judge and former teacher Gerard O'Brien was convicted of one count of attempted anal rape and eight counts of sexual assault in the 1990s. Picture: Collins Courts
In a landmark case, Judge Gerard O’Brien was convicted in December of sexual assault on six young men. It is mostly a story of how the victims’ bravery outweighs all other elements within this sometimes unbelievable but very true set of events which the audacious judge has still not admitted to or apologised for.
The six people who came forward have paved the way for others to stand up in any situation where there is injustice, despite them having to relive some pretty uncomfortable and ‘embarrassing’ stuff — ultimately taking on the most powerful people in society, even when they may have felt they should back off, or might not be believed or listened to properly.
It is a story of real equality, where a jury looked at the evidence and facts, and not at the person’s disability, sexuality, influential network, or their perceived role in society.
It is a story of how perpetrators of these types of crimes don’t have to be Christian Brothers, or look like deviants of days gone by, but how they still often work under religious trusts, with the same codes of practice and under the same old umbrellas that claim to have wholesome moral ethe.
It is a story of a school, which, by all accounts, thought it was appropriate for teachers to bring kids to the pub from the age of 16 and, from the evidence, seemed to have turned blind eyes to a string of wrongdoings, before convenient amnesia set in for the trial.
And, apart from the disgusting traumas that the former ‘role model’ inflicted on young people and their families and friends, while he himself had a duty of care, it is a story of how the police and the state worked hard to do the right thing for the victims.
At a time when the minister for justice and relevant departments have had their motivations questioned within the parameters of societal care, it is a massive win for anyone who wants to feel like they are living in an Ireland that does the right thing for its citizens.
People want to work in peace and raise families in secure trusted environments and not have to question the individuals in charge or the culture of every institution or group they find themselves in.
Weirdly, the disgraced teacher bought the parochial school house in Thurles to live in after he was eventually booted out of Dublin. I shudder to think what those walls might say (1852 to 2023) and hope his past will be examined further with regard to judgements he made in clerical abuse cases.
There are always going to be deviants disguised as normal people, hidden in plain sight and looking for opportunities to commit selfish and heinous crimes, and there are always going to be people who are afraid of them, and people who will protect their ‘reputations’, before doing the right thing.
This conviction is huge for all out there who want to report historical or present abuses, of any kind, in all circles.
It is huge for the people who want to be able to trust again. Well done to all involved.
Over the years and especially at this time of year I visit an old soldier long since retired.
Even though he now lives alone, he continues to tastefully decorate his house for Christmas as when his wife was alive.
The centrepiece of his Christmas home has always been an impactful crib created from figures, motifs, and ideas he brought home, both physically and emotionally, from many UN overseas tours in the Middle East with the Defence Forces.
This week I noticed that his crib was a shambles of building rubble, splinters, and shards of bullet and grenade shrapnel. The core crib figures were protruding in upended profiles from the heap.
The immediate impact left me disturbed and, before I could utter any words he said: “As for the wise men, they seem to have got lost in the attic.”
Your editorial, (‘Irish Examiner view: Munster should be playing Leinster in Páirc Uí Chaoimh’ — Irish Examiner, December 26) is totally biased against everyone who supports Munster Rugby outside of Cork.
It is not too long ago when a mere few hundred people would go to matches at Musgrave Park, the majority of them from Limerick.
Now the Cork fans want to clear their debt at the expense of the loyal fans who always supported the team.
Remember it was these same individuals, Lenihan included, who saddled Munster with a large debt with the revamping of Independent Musgrave Park. Remember Limerick has always been the true home of rugby in Ireland. Let the so-called GAA supporters clear the debt, but of course they only support a winning side? Oh I forgot — things aren’t going too well there either.
Throughout the Western world, in the 1960s and 1970s, the mass of people, the working class, enjoyed a greater share of economic wealth and power that they had never enjoyed before or since. For the first time since the dawn of civilisation, life for the majority of people was no longer a depressing, grinding struggle. This resulted in an explosion of artistic creativity in the field of popular music and a new seriousness in its lyrical content.
Three million people died before the US pulled out of Vietnam. We can never know how long the US would have persisted with this slaughter were it not for the opposition of the subsequently derided hippies of the peace movement and its pop star allies. Its time to put ‘Happy Christmas (War is Over)’ back on the Christmas playlists. We need to hear it now more than ever.
I wholeheartedly agree with Margaret Walshe’s letter (‘Renaming TCD’s Library’ — Irish Examiner, December 26) in response to a request from Trinity College of a name for their library, suggesting that it should be named the Maureen Sweeney Library.
Ms Sweeney passed to her eternal reward in recent weeks. Her weather forecast in 1944 changed the path of history, resulting in the end of the war and saving many unnecessary deaths and so much destruction. It would be fitting to have Trinity College Library named in her honour. An excellent suggestion from Ms Walshe.
