By Michael Parsons
The Irish Times
June 24, 2009
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0624/1224249414802.html
[TV3 report on the event]
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| Angela Dillon and John Rice break a cane at the start of a march in support of victims of child abuse in Carlow yesterday. Mr Rice said the cane was a symbol of "the painful past" which must be left behind. Photo by Karl McDonough |
A CANE similar to those used to beat children in Irish schools was broken in half to applause from a crowd in Carlow yesterday attending a march of support for victims of child abuse.
At a prayer ceremony before the march got under way, organiser John Rice held the cane aloft and described it as “a symbol of a painful past which we must leave behind forever”.
He said the purpose of the march was “to leave a footprint in the sand of time that we remembered these people and to say that they are not forgotten”.
Unlike the event in Dublin two weeks ago, a priest, local curate Fr Liam Morgan (40), addressed the crowd and said that “after years of denial” he was “very happy” to see people “stand shoulder-to-shoulder with survivors”.
About 200 people then walked in silence through the streets behind a banner which read: “Cherish all children of the nation equally”.
This was the first regional public demonstration of solidarity for the victims of child abuse since the publication of the Ryan report.
Some of the marchers carried GAA flags to represent their counties and the most prominent colours were from Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny and Wexford.
After the march, two Carlow residents who had suffered abuse in clerical-run institutions laid wreaths in the grounds of the Holy Family Church.
Maureen O’Sullivan (57), who was sent to St Aidan’s Industrial School in New Ross, Co Wexford, at the age of 12 and had also been forced to work in Magdalene laundries in New Ross and in Athy, Co Kildare, said her case with the redress board was “ongoing”.
Her children did not attend yesterday because they found the occasion “too upsetting” but she was “very happy” with the “solidarity” displayed by the public.
She was accompanied by Cork film-maker Steven O’Riordan who announced that his documentary, The Forgotten Maggies, which features Ms O’Sullivan’s harrowing story, will receive its premiere in Galway on July 8th during the city’s Film Fleadh festival.
Ms O’Sullivan laid a white wreath in the shape of a heart with the words: “Never Be Forgotten”.
Ray Noctor (50) received ˆ375,000 in a High Court action after suffering abuse during nine years at St Joseph’s Industrial School in Kilkenny.
He said he was one of a family of 11 children and had been sent by the courts along with his little brother.
Mr Noctor said that he couldn’t make it to the march in Dublin and had not seen the Ryan report.
Accompanied by one his three children, Keith (14), he described the turnout as “quite good”.
The occasion was “an emotional day” he said.
He laid a black wreath in the shape of a broken heart dressed with a ribbon bearing the words: “Justice will be done”, alongside a small pile of children’s shoes.
The organisers then released 40 white doves.
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