The abuse of children was a "denial of childhood," the President, Mrs McAleese, said yesterday as she opened a counselling and psychotherapy service for Irish and other ethnic groups in London.
Abuse, whether psychological, sexual or physical, could be found in places where "the innocent trust of a child was so badly placed" in the hands of those who were highly regarded within the community. Speaking at the launch of the Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy Service (ICAP), which has been commissioned by the Government to provide counselling for victims of institutional abuse in Ireland, many of whom now live in Britain, Mrs McAleese said many people who would attend ICAP had suffered "the most appalling abuse" as children.
"So many of them experienced abuse," Mrs McAleese said, "that awful experience of the abuse of their very vulnerability, from people who were regarded highly in the community, who were given responsibility precisely because they were so highly regarded and who abused that so badly."
Their childhood could not be given back, but Mrs McAleese said services provided by ICAP for Irish and other immigrants could help those who had suffered abuse discover "coherence in a fractured life story" and provide hope for the future.
The Government also provides funding for four case workers dealing with Irish victims of institutional abuse at the Camden Irish Centre in London and the Irish Centre in Coventry and plans to broaden the type of counselling services available to Irish people living in Britain.