Attn: Letters Editor

Dear Editor,

The story of the horrors perpetrated in the Magdalene laundries and industrial schools of Ireland has shocked and sickened all decent people in this country. I know how I felt when I watched the film Song for a Raggy Boy, about the systematic abuse of pupils in a Catholic school, and The Magdalene Sisters, which depicted the abuse of young women in one of those Hibernian gulags to which single mothers were dispatched by supposedly ?devout? families.

Both films recall an era when a form of religious fascism held sway in Ireland, distorting values and turning the concept of ?parish pride? into a narrow parochialism that encouraged silence and turning the other way in the face of gross violations of human rights in state-run institutions.

But what I find almost equally disturbing is the litany of false accusations of abuse against priests, nuns, and Christian brothers that have come to light in recent years. I have just finished reading a book on this subject, Kathy?s Real Story, by journalist Hermann Kelly.

It details a number of high profile cases where people, mainly involving clergy or members of various religious orders, who wrongly accused of physical or sexual abuse, only to be later cleared of these allegations when the accusers withdrew them. The suffering endured by the victims of these accusers can only be imagined.

From the moment the allegation is made, the priest, nun or Christian Brother is under a dark cloud of suspicion. Though completely innocent, he or she has to live with the unfair and undeserved stigma that a malicious fellow human being has conjured up.

The ?crucifixion? of ex-nun Nora Wall is examined in the book, among other harrowing cases. Nora was declared innocent after the false allegations against her were withdrawn and shown to be completely without foundation.

Her friend Pablo McCabe who had also been wrongly accused was vindicated only after his death. He died bearing a burden that no human being should be saddled with.

Both Nora and Pablo had their reputations shredded in the media before being exonerated.

Recently, a man was jailed for concocting a false abuse story about a priest. Other fabricated allegations of abuse concerning priests have been quietly withdrawn following retractions by the accusers. Surely this is a scandal of immense proportions?

RTE and the print media have explored in excruciating detail the institutional abuse that characterised the ?Hidden Ireland? of the past. Would it too much to expect that they would apply their investigative skills to ascertaining how widespread is the phenomenon of false abuse accusations and report professionally on the effects of this evil on those afflicted by it. Fair is fair.

Hermann Kelly has done a great service to the cause of justice and human rights in Ireland by exposing the dangers inherent in blind or unquestioning acceptance of abuse allegations that lack credibility or that cannot be substantiated by independent witnesses.

Sexual abuse destroys lives. But so does a false accusation of sexual abuse. That ought to go without saying. There should be no hiding place for anyone who commits either of these crimes against humanity!

Thanking you,

John Fitzgerald