Michael O’Brien had the “bravery and strength” to “open the floodgates” about the sexual abuse thousands of Irish children suffered in church-run industrial schools and residential institutions.
Survivors of sexual and physical abuse have paid tribute to Mr O’Brien, the sex abuse survivor and former lord mayor of Clonmel, who died this week.
Mr O’Brien’s raw testimony on RTÉ’s Questions and Answers programme in May 2009 outlining the abuse he suffered as a child sent shock waves around the country.
Mr O’Brien confronted Noel Dempsey, then a government minister, following the publication of the Ryan Report into clerical abuse. The report came a decade after the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was set up.
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Thousands of complaints were heard by the commission from former residents of predominantly Catholic institutions. Mr O’Brien described the adversarial treatment he received at the commission and said he tried to take his own life after spending five days being questioned.
“I burst out crying when I saw it in 2009; I couldn’t believe the bravery,” said Clodagh Malone, abuse survivor and chairwoman of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors.
“At that time, you still weren’t allowed to speak about the abuse. The church and State wanted to whitewash everything ... Michael catapulted us survivors to come forward.
“Everybody remembers that interview because it was so graphic, but that’s what our abusers did. The floodgates were opened that night. People in Ireland prefer to say ‘clerical abuse’, but this was sexual abuse that takes away your body, your mind, your soul.”
Colm O’Gorman, founder of childhood sexual abuse support charity One in Four and former director of Amnesty International Ireland, said most Irish audiences had never heard a description of child sexual abuse “in such a visceral way”.
“It was the fact that here was a Fianna Fáil man, a former mayor, cutting through all the bluster and excuses in a very uncompromising but incredibly courageous way,” he said.
Watching the 2009 clip back, “when we’re now dealing with reports that religious orders are refusing to contribute to the cost of redress for survivors of mother and baby homes, you have to ask what has really changed,” Mr O’Gorman also said.
Broadcaster John Bowman, who presented the RTÉ Questions and Answers programme, said Mr O’Brien’s words had “a greater impact than any other contribution from the audience in the history of the programme”.
“It was one of the most-watched moments in Irish TV history, it was the only time in 23 years that a panel applauded someone in the audience,” he said.
Abuse survivor Maurice O’Connell said he “curled up in a ball and broke down” after watching the programme.
“He expressed the anger and hurt so well. But even though it was powerful, nothing has changed,” he said.
Mr O’Connell took part in a 2019 Government consultation that resulted in last year’s Supports for Survivors of Residential Abuse Bill and provides a package of supports to abuse survivors, including an enhanced medical card and a once-off €3,000 support payment. Mr O’Connell said Mr O’Brien was “disgusted” with the Bill’s recommendations.
“Michael wanted what all survivors wanted: a HAA (Health Amendment Act) card, a pension scheme and housing.”
Catherine Coffey O’Brien, who was born in a mother and baby home and whose mother and six uncles were “incarcerated” in a psychiatric hospital, said Mr O’Brien took the “first step in shedding light” on the abuse boys experienced in industrial schools.
“At the time he spoke it would have been unheard of for a man to speak about sexual abuse, it showed bravery and strength. The sad thing is, this narrative of history has been sanitised over the years,” she said.
“How many of us have to speak out before its actually acknowledged that we lived through this and, in some cases, like my own family, generations of family lived this. A part of this archive has died with Michael.”
Mr O’Brien’s intervention was a “poignant moment in Irish history” that brought “solace to survivors,” said John Kelly, founder of campaign group Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (Soca).
“He stopped the Government in its tracks when it was ignoring us,” he said.
Mr Kelly recalled how Mr O’Brien contacted him after taking part in the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.
“He phoned me a few days later and told me how the religious organisations called him a liar. He said he then realised none of those responsible would face justice. He told me, ‘I was encouraged to open up my wounds and yet I’m left with all these scars to fester’.
“He was right. All we got was an inquiry and some money. But that’s what our abusers did to us: they abused us, gave us money and then told us to go away.”
Sixteen years on from Mr O’Brien’s contribution on RTÉ, Mr Kelly lamented that little had changed.
“If we look at the ‘Grace’ case from last week, can we guarantee children’s safety and security?” he asked.
“There will be two great men going through the pearly gates this weekend. The Pope may not have done enough, but he admitted they made faults. He did more than the Government.
“Hopefully, he and Michael will go hand-in-hand through the pearly gates.”
Mr O’Brien is predeceased by his wife Mary and survived by his family Geraldine, Peter, Martin and Catriona. His funeral will take place on Thursday at St Mary’s Church in Irishtown, Co Tipperary.
