A chara, – Justine McCarthy has a point in that the neglect by the State of vulnerable children needs to be called out, particularly during a time of buoyancy in the public finances (“Government shouldn’t be so quick to yell Gotcha! at Sinn Féin. Its record on children is shameful”, Opinion & Analysis, October 25th).
But there is a massive child abuse scandal overshadowing recent events, that receives little attention in the South, and that is associated with one major political party. I am referring to the so-called “punishment” beatings and shootings carried out by loyalist and republican gangs in Northern Ireland.
Since 1990, according to PSNI statistics, more than 500 children were maimed and traumatised by these attacks. In a kind of parity of disesteem, loyalists and republicans were more or less equally responsible.
I’ve been researching these attacks for years and in recent times have been interviewing child victims, many of whom are now middle aged. The whole subject is deeply disturbing. It is also politically disturbing.
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A number of victims, particularly those who turned up for a republican shooting by appointment, knew their abusers. Some spoke of the use of Sinn Féin offices for their interrogation and in a few cases identified perpetrators who are currently active within Sinn Féin.
In the main, these child victims want two things. One, an acknowledgement by Sinn Féin, speaking on behalf of IRA veterans, of the harm inflicted on them.
Two, a commitment by Sinn Féin to expel members who have been involved in these kinds of human rights abuses.
I would add a third. We have had a whole series of inquiries into various forms of child abuse, North and South.
The time is long overdue to institute a public inquiry into organised child abuse, by loyalists and republicans, with a view to giving some of the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society a voice. – Is mise,
LIAM KENNEDY,
(Emeritus Professor of History,
Queen’s University Belfast).