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THE VICTIMS OF “one of the darkest chapters” in Ireland’s history are to have a memorial erected in their names as a formal recognition of their suffering by the State.
Minister Ruairí Quinn unveiled the design of the €500,000 project at a press conference yesterday. The Journal of Light memorial will be erected next to the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square in Dublin over the next two years.
The design by Studo Negri and Hennessy & Associates was announced as the winning entry of a competition to provide the memorial to victims of institutional abuse as recommended in the Ryan Report.
Quinn said that he believes Journey of Light will “act as a testimony to one of the darkest chapters in our State’s history and what we collectively as a society allowed to happen to vulnerable children”.
I hope it will serve as a constant reminder that we must never let such horrendous crimes against children happen again and we must strive to protect all of our children.
The Ryan Report also noted the importance of the State’s formal recognition of the abuse and suffering being preserved in a permanent place.
The State apology to victims will be inscribed in English and Irish at a child’s level on the walls and in Braille on a bronze plaque at the base of a water feature.
The monument will also include a lighted walkway and trees. The architects said their proposed design reinforces the importance of State vigilance in protecting its most fragile members. They were clear that it was not an attempt to “find closure” following the revelations of child sex abuse in Ireland.
The design hopes to create a “fluid progression between the Garden of Remembrance, which commemorates those who died for the cause of Irish freedom, with a memorial dedicated to the young victims of abuse”.
Junior Minister Brian Hayes with Ruairí Quinn at the press conference yesterday.
Speaking at the press conference yesterday, Minister Quinn said he was not satisfied with the lack of co-operation from religious congregations in providing redress costs for survivors.
The Irish Times reports that he called their progress so far as “very slow” given that only one of the 18 had accepted the Ryan Report recommendation of a 50:50 contribution.
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An aging workforce in a dangerous grossly underfunded occupation trying to make-do with systems and machinery that are no longer fit for purpose!
Thats nonsense, the problem with machinery is that it is now much more high powered and dangerous, farmers didnt have this machinery 25-30 years ago, mowers, wrappers, grabs large tractors etc. they also didnt have slatted sheds. All these new farming methods but farmers still doing what they always done, the mindset hasn’t moved with the methods!
It’s actually a bit of both. Some are unsafe practices with old machinery, while some involve people being caught out by new and higher powered machinery than they were used to. To me, the most telling statistic is that nine men over the age of 65 died in workplace accidents on farms. In most other occupations, they’d be happily retired. But farming is a different story.
@Jumperoo:
Well said.
I grew up on a farm, I’ve two brother in their 50′s still farming. They have 8 kids between them , not one has any interest in taking it up.
Within five miles there is one farmer in their thirty’s but they could name at least six in their seventies.
And that’s on good quality well above average size farms in the east of the country.
@John Mc Donagh: Excellent post, the the majority of Farmers are over the age of retirement and its as much a hobby for them as a place of work. It keeps them active and out and about which is a good thing. Sometimes I do wonder if some of these farm accidents are actually heart attacks (similar to some single vehicle accidents) that then result in accidents. But more paper work with safety statements and the likes wouldn’t help prevent farm accidents. It is difficult to explain to older people that they are no longer able to do what they could 10 / 15 years ago. Just look at the the recent road traffic accidents there was a number of people over 80 killed. They just cant react as quickly as they once could. Kids on farms frighten me, but they need to be accommodated on it so that they see and understand the dangers. I remember being on a large building site a few years back. We got a 2 day induction on the health & safety of the site, but it wasn’t until I got down on the ground that I could fully understand what the health and safety office was talking about.. Its work alone or in a rushed manor that needs to be address and where possible both should be avoided.
It can be a terribly dangerous line of work
Nor will you find Ivana Bacik and her cohorts looking for quotas in this industry in their never-ending quest for ‘equality’.
@Andrew Eager: these pleanty of women involved in farm work. Historically women have done a lot of work on Irish farms
@Breandán O Conchúir: Indeed they do. Care to suggest why men vastly outnumber their female colleagues in the mortality rates on farms? Might it be to do with the fact that the men are doing the significantly more dangerous work? What do you think?
Half the problem with farms is that there not only work places but also home places and playgrounds for those living, growing up there. If you ask a qualified H&S person what to do most will go into theoretical H&S stuff, written policies, safety signage etc., which even if enforced won’t really improve safety. It’s hard to know what to do given that individual farmers won’t really have the wherewithal to assess or implement safety improvements, would really just shut a lot of farms. It might be more helpful for govt to subsidise practical farm safety improvements, gas monitors, pit covers etc., but that would require someone to put their neck on the line so won’t happen.
Its the only industry that accepts deaths with “a sur tis very sad and tis terrible and the poor farmer” and then does absolutely nothing to prevent it happening again. Stuck in a bygone era! There is also a huge political element to this in regards the “aul vote” politicians obviously keeping the pressure off and the HSA at bay as they have yet to prosecute a single farmer?? What other industry in the country has that luxury afforded them?
Spot on Lord
Fishing sector had a reduction in fatalities from 5 to 3. Not sure if that should really count as an improvement or anything, the numbers are so small it’s arguably just a statistical blip, one or two incidents either way could be back up next year.
Yet construction workers pay for the scam of a safe pass and farmers don’t have similar considering they’re dealing with more powerful machinery on a daily basis.
HSA needs to refocus.
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