I posted this graph in yesterday’s 200 Words. I created it as a clearer version of Simon McGarr’s “Scandal Timeline”, below. Journalists have criticised the graph, pointing out the story in response to which it was created — Tuam mass graves — was broken by the Daily Mail (and earlier, the Connacht Tribune). They have… Continue reading Pressure Points
Tag: scandal
Secret Agency
Chatting with a regional reporter, we got round to anecdotes about “the one that got away”. Every regional journalist has stories like that. A minor scandal, an odd item on a council expense sheet, a row between rival TDs or councillors, a prominent local priest or businessman with some unorthodox political opinions. There are lots… Continue reading Secret Agency
Natural Causes
Christopher O’Driscoll was seventeen. The HSE knew about him since he was ten. Since then, he had been in and out of care facilities, an when they were full, bed and breakfasts, or hotels. On May Day weekend last year, he had nowhere to go. The administrators had shut down their computers, closed their offices,… Continue reading Natural Causes
Open the books
A Garda who investigated one of the most notorious clerical child abusers in Ireland has called on the Catholic church to “open its books” about child sexual abuse. Retired Garda Martin Ridge was a key player in the investigation which led to the conviction and jailing of Fr Eugene Greene for twelve years in April… Continue reading Open the books
Priorities
Yesterday, the government published the Murphy report, the results of an investigation into the sexual abuse of children in the Dublin diocese, and how complaints were handled. This is not the first such report. The Ferns Inquiry was published in 2005. Earlier this year Ryan looked at institutional child abuse. So after the initial rage… Continue reading Priorities
There’s Always One
The benefit of the doubt (or if you prefer, the presumption of innocence) is one of the longest established principles in the common law. At it’s most blunt, the principle is expressed in Blackstone’s formulation: “better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer”. Populist cheerleaders for tough policing often focus on those… Continue reading There’s Always One
Full Disclosure
The redress board worked upstairs, and I worked downstairs at the tribunal. Sometimes, I’d meet a survivor as I took a cigarette break. They’d tell me what was going on upstairs was unbelievable. I’d tell them that as much as I’d love to hear it, I was a journalist, and forbidden by law from talking… Continue reading Full Disclosure
Speaking Truth To Power
300
Today is Brian Cowan’s 300th day as Taoiseach. It’s symptomatic of his reign that today, the door fell off a minister’s helicopter as it left a tourism conference. Brian Cowen’s reign just can’t seem to achieve takeoff. He was elected, as far as I can tell, because he was great crack altogether. He became the… Continue reading 300
Dead Weight
The voting machines just won’t go away. The useless machines are stored by local councils under contracts which commit them to pay millions for up to a quarter century. So far, the electronic paperweights have cost €54 million, and the clock up another €200000 a year. The thing is, according to EU law as enshrined… Continue reading Dead Weight