FEARLESS

Click on any image for a larger version

This exhibition in Dublin City University (DCU) is to mark the 20th anniversary of fearless journalist Mary Raftery's series States of Fear which dealt with the brutal regimes in the nation's industrial schools between the 1930s and 1970s. Mary's exposé was not the first but it was the deepest and most dramatic and the one that captured the public's imagination.

I'll take this opportunity to mention here the Jesuit, Fr. Kenneth McCabe, who drew attention in the late 1960s to conditions in the industrial schools. His "revelations", inter alia, led to the Minister for Education, Donogh O'Malley, establishing a committee to inquire into the schools which in turn produced the Kennedy Report (1970). Although originally recommended by Declan Costello to be a member of the committee, Fr McCabe's name was deleted by the Government. Fr McCabe's actions lacked the backing of the Jesuit order from which he had resigned and gone to London. You can read about him here.

Full marks to Mary for having another go at it. The victims/survivors deserved no less.

Mark O'Brien & Brian MacCraith

The exhibition, which covers the main milestones in Mary's journalistic career, was curated by Mark, for which he was praised by the various speakers, including Brian, President of DCU, with whom he's seen above.

Miriam Corcoran

Miriam is the Interim DCU Librarian. The library, apart from fulfilling the traditional library functions, houses the special collections. These include the Mary Raftery collection, donated by the family, and from which the exhibition is drawn.

Brian was clearly thrilled that Mary's family had chosen DCU to be the recipient of this important journalist's archive. DCU has been building up its school of journalism over the years and it is now the "go to" course for budding journalists. Reflecting its developing scope it is now titled the School of Communications and is highly ranked in international league tables.

Brian also announced the establishment of a new journalism industry award – The Mary Raftery Prize – which will be awarded annually to an individual or small team responsible for journalistic work produced on the island of Ireland which, in the view of the judges, combines the rigorous analysis and commitment to social justice which characterised Mary Raftery’s journalism and resulted in a significant impact on society. The first prize will be awarded in 2020 for work produced in 2019. It will be administered by DCU’s School of Communications with an independent panel of judges selecting the winner.

John Doyle

John is the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. This is the faculty which houses the School of Communications. John was full of enthusiasm for the exhibition and took the opportunity to remind the audience of the high esteem in which DCU and the Faculty are held internationally.

I would like to add my own word of praise here for Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge which has contributed enormously in recent years to modernising and expanding support for Irish language research and activities.

Sheila Ahern

Sheila worked with Mary on States of Fear and Mary is on record as saying how Sheila joining her really made a huge difference to what could be achieved.

Sheila told us that a full two years' work went into the programme. This was not only desk research, taking on board what had already been done, but extracting a vast amount of files from the Department of Education. These showed the Department had been aware of problems all along. Then Mary followed up the leads talking to survivors and others all over the country.

When the programme was made, getting it out was not easy. The powers that be in RTÉ thought it too bleak and suggested it be lightened up a bit. I kid you not. Then Mary found they'd switched it to a late night slot without telling her. She kicked up shit and it went out in prime viewing time.

Roddy Doyle

Roddy recounted a time in his youth when he lived within sight of Artane Industrial School and got the usual parental threats of the day that he'd end up there if he misbehaved.

Sheila tells me that Roddy first met Mary in UCD when she asked him to write a piece for the student magazine she edited. He said that this was the first time he had ever written anything that was published!

The exhibition reproduces Roddy's letter to Mary after the airing of States of Fear (below).

Click image for a larger version

The exhibition recalls Mary's early work when she investigated the Dublin drugs scene. It was discovering how one of the Dunnes had been abused in the industrial school that then led her on to investigate that area.

Patrick Gallagher

Meanwhile there was the Patrick Gallagher scandal. The collapse of his Merchant Banking Ltd and the wanton destruction of Molesworth Hall.

Ryan Report

States of Fear eventually led to the Ryan Report on abuse in State-run institutions.

Murphy Report

Meanwhile Mary had moved on to abuse by Catholic clerics leading to another programme, Cardinal Secrets, and to another State report, the Murphy Report. It is worth recalling here that the Vatican refused to cooperate with the Murphy Enquiry. This was true to form where it pleads diplomatic immunity as a "sovereign state" and/or that priests are not its employees, a faux moral high ground in defence of ultimate evil.

Letter from States of Fear panel

Touching, but not everyone was convinced that the airing of States of Fear was a good thing. It did give rise to a certain amount of public hysteria and it came just before the wrongful conviction of Sr Nora Wall for rape, a verdict to which it was seen to have contributed.

In a recent retrospective view, Rory Connor went so far as to label Mary a fake hero. My own view is, regrettable as the hysteria was, much of it was born of shock, and the alternative was to keep sweeping this scandal under the carpet and allow the flock to continue in their blind faith in the Church. That would have been hardly fair to the victims/survivors and would have made it more difficult to bring the real perpetrators to justice.

In addition to the wall panels, the exhibition also displays a variety of artifacts in glass cases. Some of these consist of paperwork but the one above is Mary's award for States of Fear for the best documentary in English at the Irish Film and Television Awards in 1999.

An advance look at the Mary Raftery medal to be awarded next year.

David Waddell & Brian Trench

Dave is Mary Raftery's husband and Brian is a firebrand from the era of Ireland in Transition. Brian is retired from DCU and currently President of Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST). My recollection is that in the distant past he caused offence to John Charles and Gaybo was angling for an apology on the Late Late Show. I don't think that actually materialised.

In any event, looking at this picture, it struck me to wonder if there are yet more secrets to be revealed?

Regarding the overall exhibition, it is very well presented. The panels are well laid out and there is no clutter. Text is minimal, of a decent size and well integrated with the images. Full marks to Mark and Vermillion Design.

Perhaps this can count as the lighter touch requested by RTÉ of Mary way back.

Before I finish, I think this is an appropriate place to recall the sad death recently of another fearless investigating journalist, Lyra McKee, RIP.

---

RTÉ item on the exhibition
DCU item on the exhibition
Irish Times piece by Mark prior to the launch