Irish prime minister apologizes to abuse victim following European court decision
January 31, 2014
Following a European court ruling, Prime Minister Enda Kelly apologized to an abuse victim “for what happened to her” and “for the whole horrendous experience that she had to go through,” the Reuters news agency reported.
Overturning a decision by the Supreme Court of Ireland, the European Court of Human Rights had ruled that the Irish government failed to protect a woman from sexual abuse by a lay teacher nearly 40 years ago at a national (public) school administered by the Church.
The court ordered Ireland to pay the woman over $150,000 for damages and legal costs and “found that Ireland's system of detecting and reporting abuse was ineffective in the 1970s, allowing more than 400 incidents of abuse by [the victim’s] former principal and teacher,” the Associated Press reported.
The prime minister had initially declined to respond to a call to apologize to the victim, according to Irish media reports.
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Further information:
- Ireland PM apologizes for schoolgirl abuse case (Reuters)
- European court rules that Irish government must compensate abuse victim (CWN, 1/29)
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Feb. 01, 2014 7:32 AM ET USA
Most Americans aren't familiar with Enda Kenny, the current Irish PM. He is the man photographed while sending text messages in an audience with the pope...while the pope was talking. I mention this incident because it is what James Joyce used to call "an epiphany", a seeming small event that says reveals an important truth about someone or something. For Americans who may not already know it, Kenny rivals, even surpasses Obama in callowness, hypocrisy, and repudiation of traditional morality.