Like many others who were lucky enough to have known or worked with Mary Raferty, I was deeply saddened to hear of her death yesterday, January 10th. Mary’s passing is a loss to us all, but most especially of course to her husband, her son and wider family who are very much in my thoughts. The following is a tribute to Mary I wrote for the Irish Independent. I never once came away from a conversation with Mary Raftery without learning something. She had an incredible mind; an extraordinary ability to absorb and store information combined with a gift for insight and... [Read more]

On September 26th 2011 Amnesty International Ireland published the results of a major research project which seeks to promote the need for a broader response to the Ferns, Ryan, Murphy and Cloyne reports into institutional and clerical child abuse in Ireland. The following blog post is the preface to the research publication. More information and a download of the research can be found here. There is an obvious clear and compelling reason why Amnesty International Ireland might commission research such as ‘In Plain Sight’. The issue central to the research, the abuse... [Read more]

The response of the Holy See to the Cloyne Report seeks to portray the Vatican as having never been opposed to the idea that Bishops should co-operate with civil law when it comes to reporting priests who rape and abuse children. Interestingly they quote Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the former Prefect (Head) of the Congregation for the Clergy. This is the powerful Vatican Department with responsibility for matters involving clergy and priests and which, until 2001, played a central role in deciding how cases of clerical sexual abuse were handled. The Hoy See quotes... [Read more]

I was always taught that a vital element of being a decent and moral human being was to be prepared to unequivocally take responsibility for ones failures and wrong doing, be they by commission or omission. That is that I should have the moral courage, insight, maturity and enough compassion for myself and others to face the truth of my actions or inactions and take responsibility for their impact upon the lives of others. This remains an important principle to me, and one that helped me face my own troubled past believing that I could work through and past all that shamed,... [Read more]

I have been away from home for the past few weeks, firstly on a family break and now for work. And so I have missed all the turmoil and drama of the race for the Áras. I value the importance and the symbolism of the office of the President. It is the highest office in the land, and one that, thanks to the integrity and principled innovation of both Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, has proven to be of both great significance and great importance. Of course the President of our Republic has no executive or political power, but it is a position that can and should reflect... [Read more]