Friday, July 03, 2009

Ombudsman tells religious to end reliance on lawyers

Religious orders should ''throw out the lawyers'' and deal with victims of abuse on a human level, according to the ombudsman Emily O'Reilly.

Ms O'Reilly said a residual culture of obstructionism still existed in congregations that was illustrated by an over-reliance on lawyers.

She cited the example of one survivor who ''had been trying to get some very benign information from one of the congregations, asking do you know anything about my mother or where my brother went, just ordinary information. In every instance, she was replied to by lawyers.

''That human interaction which is the basis of love and Christianity, is not there,'' she told The Irish Catholic.

The cost of lawyers fees under the Institutional Redress Scheme has reached €138m of the €1.3bn overall compensation bill.

''One of the things that has crept into the system is an over-reliance on lawyers,'' she said, following an emotive speech at the conference of the Sisters of Charity this week.

Documented

Addressing the theme of social responsibility, Ms O'Reilly said every adult in Ireland was aware of the abuse documented in the Ryan Report.

She warned of a repeat of the institutional abuses catalogued in the report in modern institutions that care for the elderly, the mentally ill and prisoners.

Ms O'Reilly also said the public service, in particular, needed to face up to its social responsibilities.

Work practices

She criticised ''antiquated work practices, turf wars, poor planning, demarcation disputes, the jealous guarding of privileges'' within the sector which ''are not just management issues but feed mentally into the social justice landscape''.

Delivering the keynote address, President Mary McAleese described the abuse that took place in industrial schools as a ''millstone of biblical proportions'' in Irish history.

She said the sisters should call on their foundress' Mary Aikenhead's ''resilience, determination, humility and focus in the journey of amending and healing which lies ahead''.
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