IRELAND
Irish Times
Miriam Lord
Wed, Jun 11, 2014
The publication of the Cooke report should have taken our minds off the Tuam babies story, but it didn’t. After the furore caused by the allegations surrounding alleged bugging of the Garda Ombudsman office by persons unknown, the arrival of the report into the affair was met with tired indifference around Leinster House. Although the government is happy, as Mr Justice Cooke concluded the evidence did not support the proposition. Some in South Dublin (or perhaps further afield, if he’s had enough of Kildare Street for the present) like Alan Shatter was probably allowing himself a rueful smile.
Sometimes, a ball of smoke is just that – a ball of smoke. Is it case closed? It would seem to be, unless GSOC or the Sunday Times or Verrimus (the interntional security company which carried out the examination of GSOC premises which gave rise to suspicion in the first place) can say otherwise.
But the day was really about the terrible history of Ireland’s mother and baby homes. All to do with an Ireland past, of course. We’re much more tolerant now. Enda pulled out all the stops in the Dáil. In fairness, he’s damn good at this. He oozes compassion and understanding. He can gather up a nation’s pain and soothe it with just the right amount of sadness, contrition and anger. A good deal of this is down to language. The Taoiseach casts out lines which catch the heart and sum up what most of us have been feeling. With lyrical bluntness, he holds the shameful deeds of a shared past up to the light and we publicly acknowledge our disgrace. For the first couple of times, the evocative phrases and skilful honesty really struck home. That emotional eloquence was on show again in the Dáil yesterday. But this time, we were kinda expecting it. Which somewhat took the shine off the latest performance.
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