The most important fact to keep constantly in mind as the latest chapter in the child holocaust horror unfolds is that nothing, absolutely nothing, is actually being done to face reality and provide justice for the victims.
Politicians, state officials, police and church representatives have all responded in a manner that is entirely predictable in a country whose governance is deeply dysfunctional at a moral, political and societal level.
Denial: The activities of the church have been known about for decades but were never acted upon, they were simply ignored.
It was only when the story went international, when outsiders, when non-Irish humans heard what was going on that there was any kind of response at all.
The official response to date has just one single aim – to bury the reality of what happened in a septic tank of denial.
Political: The Government has set up an inter-departmental group to decide how to proceed.
Note: the group has not been set up to act but merely to look into the matter. This group will achieve nothing apart from giving the impression of action, it is not meant to achieve anything.
Police: In a functional state the immediate police reaction would be to cordon off the area and treat it as a potential crime scene.
In dysfunctional Ireland a newspaper is in charge of the site while the police struggle to fit in their response with the wishes of their political masters.
The newspaper, The Irish Daily Mail, hired a private engineering company to carry out a subsurface radar examination of the site. A spokesperson for the newspaper said the results of its investigations would be made available to the police and government.
Question: What kind of country would see nothing unusual about allowing a newspaper to head up an investigation into any crime scene but in particular a crime scene that could involve crimes against humanity?
Meanwhile, a Garda spokesman said they would provide any information and assistance they could to the inter-departmental group set up to investigate the matter, we’re ‘feeding’ into the process the spokesman said.
So let’s recap: A newspaper is leading the investigation while government bureaucrats and the police ‘feed’ off each other’s ruminations on how to proceed.
The Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald stated clearly that any decisions (that may be taken) about criminal investigations are the responsibility of the police.
Translation: This horror has nothing to do with my government or me; it’s a matter for the police.
The police: It’s a matter for the bureaucrats.
The bureaucrats: We’re anonymous, unaccountable and are subject to strict secrecy laws.