AN ABUSE survivor has described the decades of cruelty suffered by children at the hands of religious orders as a "kind of Irish Holocaust".Christine Buckley, a former resident of the Goldenbridge Industrial School in Dublin and founder of the survivors' group Aislinn, said the words of religious leaders and the State "ring hollow" to abuse victims so great is their hurt.
"This awful period, which went on for decades longer than it should have, will in time be seen as a type of Holocaust for us all.
"In the same way as the Famine has left an indelible imprint on the Irish psyche, this period in modern Irish history, when fully absorbed and acknowledged, including through a proper memorial, will be seen as one of the awfulest parts of our history. Except this time it was done by Irish people to Irish people without anyone crying 'stop'," she added.
Ms Buckley was angered by the comments of Vincent Nichols, the new Archbishop of Westminster, who described as "courageous" members of the clergy who admitted abusing children.
"He's a disgrace, an utter disgrace. Yet again he is protecting abusers and minimising (their abuse) by talking about the work they did," she said.
Last night Children's Minister Barry Andrews insisted the Child Abuse Commission report had shown there was no "cause for complacency" when it came to child safety.
He said the State had to apply every resource available to the area of child protection.
But when tackled on the roll-out of a national out-of-hours social work service he stood by his decision not to set up such a facility for children in need.
He was criticised for this decision when he revealed 6,473 children had not been allocated a social worker in 2008.
Mr Andrews said he had shared in the horror of reading the report and conceded that work had to continue to protect children. "It makes for extremely harrowing reading. But, anybody will agree that the circumstances which pertained in the 20th Century are left behind us," he said.
Labour TD Jan O'Sullivan said in future the scandal of child abuse would be in the home as thousands of children were still without a social worker. She urged the minister to set up the out-of-hours service.
It has also emerged that children in State care as young as 12 are being removed without warning from residential homes where they have settled because of HSE cost-cutting.
A private operator of residential care for children claimed the HSE is continuing to cause distress to vulnerable youngsters under its wing.
Paula Kane, operations manager of Ashdale Care, which runs several residential homes, contracted by the HSE, said: "Every year the HSE places hundreds of children who have been the victims of institutional or domestic abuse into special residential care or foster homes.
"It is clear that those in the HSE who are charged with making decisions about the welfare of children and adolescents have been placed in the position of making these decisions purely on financial grounds, and the abuse continues."
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