Editorial: Political reputation should never trump the protection and safety of children

Amid the noise of the party’s deflect-and-deny offensive, it would be easy to overlook where the real injury lay. Not the damage that may have been done to the party or its image – far more worrying is the potential damage to confidence in our belief that, after generations of failing to protect children in this country, we have finally learned that victims are always should come first. .

Once again we have seen how an institution’s reputation has gone beyond the need to protect a child.

It’s almost a year since Niall Ó Donnghaile resigned from Sinn Féin “on health grounds”, with his party leader’s glowing support for his services.

We now know that the party passed information about Ó Donnghaile to the PSNI over inappropriate text messages he sent to a teenager.

The duty of all political leaders and holders of public office should be to strengthen these rights, not to ignore them

After the Sunday Independent revealed the victim was only 16 at the time, Mary Lou McDonald corrected the boy’s age in a statement to the Dáil file. She also apologized to the boy, saying: “What happened to this young person was wrong. Niall Ó Donnghaile’s behavior was unacceptable, completely inappropriate, and no young person should have had to experience that.

“I am also deeply sorry for the pain my words have caused in the statement I issued following his resignation.”

Many will believe that this was too little and far too late.

After decades of darkness in this country, caused by institutional neglect of responsibility in the field of child protection, it seems unconscionable that the duty to care for our children, both physically and mentally, remains unrecognized at the highest levels of the world. public life.

The duty of all political leaders and holders of public office should be to strengthen these rights, not to ignore them.

The least we owe to the survivors who suffered from this secrecy is that the culture of concealment and cover-up is gone forever.

Being heard and recognizing that an injustice has been done is essential to healing

Time and time again, we have learned how going the other way, or failing to address abhorrent behavior, not only betrays victims but can also perpetuate injustice. Yet the teenager who was the subject of these texts was still written out of the script, while the person responsible for his fear was praised.

Even then he had to appeal to Sinn Féin leaders for an apology.

The shadow cast on the lives of unjustly targeted minors should never be underestimated or trivialized.

Being heard and recognizing that an injustice has been done is essential for healing. We know that for survivors, the truth seen too late is another source of pain.