Unity of Voice. Unity of Purpose.
One Voice will learn what it actually is from its members. My input and intentions are to form a group that speaks in unity of voice with unity of purpose. I believe the government intends to grant an inquiry that is survivor-consulted and not survivor-led. It is not clear whether an inquiry will address the issues of child abuse in all schools or only Spiritan colleges. The former is the non-discriminatory all-inclusive goal of One Voice.
There’s clearly a lot to do but achieving a platform on a united survivor front is critical. To that end, I suggest an Interim Independent Panel of Survivors and Experts (IIPSE) will be established as a matter of urgency to represent the voice and intentions of survivors of school abuse in Ireland. Such a panel is essential in representing survivors and ensuring that the government does not rely on individual consultations, which clearly lack any transparency, or claim to speak for survivors based on small samples of survivors.
To that end, One Voice needs to quickly establish the trust and confidence of survivors who also believe that a unified collective approach, suggested by One Voice, will give the greatest leverage to survivor interests and goals in designing and defining any inquiry, its terms of reference, and capturing transparent and accountable views of survivors.
We are not working from scratch and I believe that the panel of experts willing to work with us will be invaluable and essential to implementing a process and outcome that is survivor friendly, supportive, and will be far better than any ‘imposed’ or ‘offered’ that has not been negotiated openly and transparently.
One Voice is not something you have joined, One Voice is you, and what you bring to making it the best way to obtain justice, a justice which you contribute to in defining and designing it, in a unified voice with a unified purpose.
Let’s get the word out, One Voice is open for membership from all survivors from all schools and colleges, public and private, primary and post-primary in Ireland. Survivors are no longer alone struggling against the monoliths of the Irish State but are unified in One Voice with a unified purpose. Together is what will make the difference.
Yours sincerely,
One Voice Group Administrator
"To the world you may be one person,
but to one person you may be the world"
Spirit of One Voice