Sir, – The call for the immediate withdrawal of the Retention of Records Bill 2019 (Letters, December 4th) by a group of survivors and academics should be considered, however I would fundamentally disagree that our files should be made available for academic scrutiny.
The Government has no business interfering in a legal arrangement between parties irrespective of so-called academic interest.
One was assured of confidentiality from the outset of the process. By accepting the terms of the redress board, which included access to the education fund then in force, it was fully understood by my barrister and solicitor that if I accepted the award under those conditions I was precluded from taking further action in the courts. Those were the terms under which I agreed, and my acceptance pursuant to that agreement means I now have a legitimate expectation that what was agreed, is agreed, and that all parties (including the Government) are bound by that confidentiality protocol.
Some survivors seem to be in a permanent state of survivor abuse, while others want to move on with their lives, having told their stories.
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I, like many others, want to move on and reminders of the past do not help.
If survivors want their files accessed let that be their choice. My file should never see the light of day, that’s my choice. – Yours, etc,
PETER MULVANY,
Abuse survivor,
Dublin3