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I was talking to my father about this last night and he was explaining to me the environment in which this abuse happened.
Basically the sexual abuse - just about the most horrific thing that could be visited upon a child, was just one type of abuse - far more common was the violent physical attacks that teachers, both lay and religious, inflicted on the kids.
Teachers routinely beat the living hell out of kids. We're not talking a smack of a cane on the arse, we're talking beatings - body punches and black eyes on defenceless kids who did nothing to deserve it.
Ireland was a sick, sad society and the fact that the Christian Brothers have somehow wormed their way out of prosecutions stemming from this inquiry seems to indicate that it still is.
After we got independence this country turned in on itself and the Catholic Church and State colluded in allowing this to go on.
My father who is now closing in on 60 now says that everyone knew what was going on, everyone - he was aware of it as a child. But it continued and nobody said stop.
He told me the story of a little kid who grew up in his small village. Unfortunately for the child, he was born out of wedlock - and his mother went on to marry a man who hadn't fathered him. So, the kid was an outcast not just in the family but in the community and wound up literally having to sleep outside the family home in a barn.
He routinely had to endure senseless beatings from teachers because he was "illegitimate". Because of the precedent set by the teachers and other adults in the community, he also had to endure regular beatings by kids.
Being so vulnerable, he inevitably wound up being preyed on by a paedophile and raped.
So - this abuse which was endemic throughout the country wasn't just due to the church, it wasn't just a failure by the state - everyone was implicated and these kids were not protected.
My father understandably has very little time for politicians who were active at the time.
A sick society.
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moo.
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