Abuse victim criticises Dublin demonstration

Child abuse campaigner Ms Christine Buckley has criticised the organisers of a victims' protest during which a man collapsed …

Child abuse campaigner Ms Christine Buckley has criticised the organisers of a victims' protest during which a man collapsed on the street.

Ms Buckley, of Aislinn, the Organisation for Healing of Victims of Institutional Abuse, said Sunday's emotional demonstration outside a commemoration Mass for the Christian and Presentation Brothers in Dublin which resulted in jostling and jeers, could have done more harm than good.

"I'm deeply concerned at the shenanigans that took place. I am angry that someone could incite such pain in very vulnerable people," said Ms Buckley, who was abused at Goldenbridge Orphanage in the 1950s.

"These people need counselling and support, not placards and shouting. They need something constructive. This kind of thing sets everyone back.

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"Everything we have achieved - the Taoiseach's apology and the Commission on Childhood Abuse - we have achieved because of persistence, not confrontation, through dialogue, not a witch-hunt, and we want to continue to strive for justice with dignity."

Protest organiser Mr John Kelly, of Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA), himself a survivor, rejected the criticism.

"The way people reacted was spontaneous. People are angry and frustrated and they vented that anger. I was as shocked and astonished as anyone. I didn't know George Bell [the man who collapsed] was coming because he lives in Manchester. He came because he wanted to be seen and heard. He told me afterwards he felt relieved that he got something off his chest.

"Christine Buckley wants re-education and counselling and these things are fine, but the people I deal with want the truth. They're angry and they want people in authority to know they're angry because they've waited long enough already."