Unity of Voice. Unity of Purpose.
One Voice did not receive any response from the Department of Education, the Taoiseach or Tánaiste, and members of the cabinet to emails sent below from Sunday, 5 March 2023 to Wednesday, 15 March 2023.
It is now Wednesday, 22 March 2023. One Voice expects better of the Minister of Education, Ms Norma Foley, TD, in addressing survivor correspondence promptly.
| Date | Link |
|---|---|
| 230403 | Correspondence dealing with defamation and slander in conversations between Mr William Gorry and
Ms Emere Doyle, PO RIRU, at Department of Education on Wednesday, 15 March 2023 insinuating that I had 'put Mr Gorry up to his calling of a political
protest by way of a 'hunger strike'. Mr Gorry’s decision to adopt any stance on initiating a ‘political protest’ was for him alone to decide. I only
came to know of Mr Gorry’s decision after the fact. My concern for him and his welfare has always been supportive and consistent. If anyone’s character
is in question, it certainly isn’t mine. For that, we ought to be looking at those trying to destroy mine.My Political Protest by William Gorry and Slander of Mark Vincent Healy
|
| 230322 | Correspondence dealing with observations on the declared 'scoping inquiry' on 7 March 2023
noting that the welfare of survivors of child sexual abuse in the schools of Ireland over decades is disrespected and disregarded, which
places survivors in jeopardy under current arrangements. There has to be a ‘safe space’ for survivors to consider the consequences of any
engagement before any engagement. Such safe space, a triage space if you will, is one which might help survivors get their bearings when
they first emerge from the dark place of their experiences and memories. One in Four is seriously under resourced for the task in
hand, both nationally and internationally. An opportunity to meet and engage is requested.DOT-TV-03520-2023 - Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland |
| 230320 | Correspondence dealing with the discrimination shown
towards survivors from non-Catholic and secular schools, who are not included in the proposed inquiry into child sexual abuse in schools;
the inordinate delays in calling an inquiry which is already over 20 years late; and
the gathering of survivor data, where survivors and the press have been kept in the dark about the
data gathering, processing, accessing, and retention issues, when the ‘scoping inquiry’ was first announced by Minister Foley on 7 March
2023.Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland
|
| 230315 | Correspondence dealing with observations on the declared 'scoping inquiry' on 7 March 2023
as essentially a government data gathering exercise which 'fails to respect the laws which protects survivor personal rights to privacy, and any
abuse of their personal details in unsolicited, unwarranted and undisclosed data gathering'...which has 'no legal protection from storage,
processing, access, sharing or retention'. History has shown that 'data gathering' of survivors of child sexual abuse are particularly vulnerable
and so suggests such measures require the establishment of a survivor forum.Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland |
| 230313 | Correspondence dealing with the risks posed to survivors in unsolicited contact from TUSLA through
the discriiminatory means of a survivor contact database supplied by the Spiritans. Establishing a forum of and for survivors is a crucial matter in
addressing survivor concerns, authenticating any inquiry as survivor-led, and acting collectively in defining and designing the inquiry
process to establish the roles played by parties who contributed to the culture and causes which exposed children to such malice and predation.
Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland |
| 230312 | Correspondence noting no realtime engagement with survivor activists or reply to survivor concerns
raised about the 'scoping inquiry' publicly announced on radio without any prior notice or warning to survivors.
Unsolicited TUSLA secretive survivor contact to solicit survey data in a data gathering exercise is a breach of one's rights to privacy, posing
a serious risk and threat to survivor interests, in criminal or civil actions or claims.Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland |
| 230310 | Correspondence dealing with an urgent call to Minister Foley to issue an immediate retraction of
the ‘scoping exercise’ set up not only to establish the numbers of victims of child sexual abuse in primary and post-primary school in Ireland,
but to attempt to gather personal details and information. The Irish civil legal process, noted as the means or pathway to justice by Ireland
to the European Court of Human Rights, is in fact a shooting gallery where survivors are picked off, one by one, by the
State in all civil actions taken against it.Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland |
| 230309 | Correspondence dealing with an urgent call to terminate the ‘scoping inquiry’ as unlawful
and wholly damaging to survivors and their interests. It asked that the Department ask RTÉ to issue a retraction of its notice immediately.
A request to establish a Survivor Forum to address survivor concerns was outlined. It was noted that the Department of Education attempted
to conduct a ‘scoping exercise’ into Residential Survivor abuse in 2018. It produced no tangible results for Redress survivors, despite
promises it would, in addressing end of life needs in gold medical cards and pension top-ups.Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland |
| 230308 | RTÉ updates its article from the 7 March 2023 explaining the announcement of the
ministerial 'scoping inquiry' into historical child sexual abuse in schools run by Catholic religious orders which received unanimous
cabinet approval on the morning of 7 March. Links were provided on 8 March as a website connected with the scoping exercise went live.
The minister is given to speak of survivors but RTÉ did not engage with Mark Vincent Healy who called for it, and expressed experienced
reservations of survivor abuse, unlawful data gathering and serious survivor health risks in such processes.RTÉ - Minister announces scoping inquiry into historical abuse in schools |
| 230307 | Correspondence dealing with the observation that in all the ministerial and public
press statement by the department that not a word of it was written or authored by survivors. There is nothing 'survivor-led' about it.
The 'scoping' tactic has been used on this survivor population repeatedly since 2014, and now again to stymie reparation and an inquiry
for another year since calling for it 8 November 2022. It is unjust to older survivors, dicriminatory to non-Catholics, and
intensifies by delay the suffering of the victims of child sexual abuse in schools in Ireland.RTÉ - Minister announces scoping inquiry into historical abuse in schools – Email to Emma O’Kelly et. al. |
| 230306 | Correspondence noting that the framework of an inquiry is solely in the hands of
the department and can hardly be called a ‘survivor-led inquiry’. Terms are determined by the department, as is the date of unveiling
the department-tailored terms. The legislative, judicial and executive failures to act as a deterrant are identified for examination.
A Survivor Forum is recommended so the narrative will not be controlled by stakeholders seeking exemption in a survivor-led inquiry.
A survivor three-strand approach is outlined as a reasonable and expedient way forward.Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland |
| 230305 | Correspondence noting that there is an imperative, where the time for due
consideration must join with the stakeholders in government, the religious orders, the experts, and most importantly the survivors
and their families to forge a safe pathway to ‘get it right’ but to ‘get it done’. There is a way forward in a three-strand approach.
Noting the exhortation to do it right this time, former Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern stated, "what we dealt with was a part of the issue,
what needs to be dealt with is the totality of it".Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Primary and Post-Primary Schools in Ireland |
| 221117 | Correspondence issuing a call for an immediate inclusive independent inquiry into
child sexual abuse in primary and post-primary, public and private, schools in Ireland, that might expose a culture and causes of it.
The focus of any such inquiry will not exclude or exonerate the responsibility of the Irish State to have had robust child protection
and welfare policy, procedures and practices in place over the seven decades since the establishment of the Republic of Ireland to the early
90s. The case study of Fr Arthur Carragher, CSSp. A reply was sought from the Taoiseach's Office.DOT-DES-DJE - IMMEDIATE INDEPENDENT INQUIRY - "The process we did not deal with" - Mr Bertie Ahern |
| Date | Link |
|---|---|
| 230313 | TUSLA reply - Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Schools in Ireland |
| 230311 | TUSLA reply - Commission to Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Schools in Ireland |
| Date | Link |
|---|---|
| 230309 | Notification by Designated Liaison Person (DLP) for Spiritan Fathers to Tusla |
| 221003 | HIGH COURT - McGrath v. HSE judgement Ms. Justice Siobhán Phelan 2022_IEHC_541 |
"To the world you may be one person,
but to one person you may be the world"
Spirit of One Voice