John Coulter with a column from the Irish Daily Star. It initially featured in Newshound on 18 February 2014.
How much was the original Unionist-dominated Stormont government involved in any alleged cover-up over sexual abuse in any Northern residential institutions?
The Co Down-based Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry may be only a matter of weeks into its investigations, but already some truly stomach-churning evidence has been given.
Chaired by retired judge Anthony Hart, the Inquiry is probing the period 1922 to 1995. For a half century during that time span, the Unionist-run government was in power.
While the glaring spotlight has been focussed on the Catholic Church hierarchy and the Catholic Holy Orders in recent years concerning child sex abuse and paedophile priests, hopefully the Hart team will have the chance to ask questions about how much the old Stormont government knew about what was happening in these institutions.
History must show that the Unionist majority government cannot dismiss allegations of child sex abuse dating back all these decades as "something only the croppies need to be concerned about".
What happened in those homes cannot be brushed under the carpet as a "Catholic problem".
If the Unionist government before 1972 knew what was happening in these homes and did nothing, it is just as guilty as any in the Catholic leadership who got involved with any alleged cover-ups.
Was it really a case that after partition, the Unionist government was so pre-occupied with securing its Northern border that it had no time for the plight of people in care – especially people in Catholic care?
After all, partition had guaranteed there would be more Protestants in the North, and the structure of Stormont meant there would always be a Unionist Party government in control. So why create more hassle for the government by annoying the Catholic Church about rotten apples in its barrel?
Maybe the bitter truth is that Unionists knew about the abuse, but didn't want to be publicly accused of a sectarian witch hunt against the Catholic Church in case it sparked a civil rights movement well before its time?
The Orange state had to survive at any cost, and if that meant turning a blind eye to what some nuns or priests were getting up to in their institutions, then so be it!
One of the great failings of former Tory Prime Minister Ted Heath when he axed the original Stormont Parliament in 1972 was that he didn't implement a Hart-style Inquiry then.
How many people might have been saved from sexual and physical abuse in such homes if the out-going Unionist government had forced Heath to implement such an inquiry?
The Unionist Party from 1922-72 should not be the only movement under the spotlight of the Hart team.
Why did the opposition Nationalist Party at Stormont not speak up to defend the innocent?
The Hart Report may bring closure to some victims, but it may also mean the history of the original Stormont Parliament may have to be revised, even rewritten.
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When I get over laughing at the title of that I'll read it and post!!!!
ReplyDeleteUUrg!!
ReplyDeleteshuda known, the hint was in the title all along. Sorry but I can't bring myself to blame the wee prods for any of that. Even at my most mischievous.
'One of the great failings of former Tory Prime Minister Ted Heath when he axed the original Stormont Parliament in 1972 was that he didn't implement a Hart-style Inquiry then.'
ReplyDeletejohn, get real a cara, one of the greatest failings of ted heath is he was a colossal pervert, friend of jimmy savile, regular at haute de la garenne jersey childrens home and an absolute monster of a
'human' being. john, i mean it, get real.