Saskia Weber and Terry Prone of the Communications Clinic
You may recall the unresolved Tuam Babies saga.
During the Summer, French documentary maker Saskia Weber sought access to members of the order running the Mother and Baby home at the centre of this international story..
The reply was swift.
And fairly blunt, in fairness.
In reality, between 1925-1961 when the home was run by the Bon Secours Order of nuns, 79 per cent of children born there died there.
The whereabouts of their bodies are unknown.
Even the head of the order conceded to one relative:
And if she doesn’t know…
Meanwhile, Ms Weber’s documentary will be shown on France 3 by independent producers Sunset Presse, whose Les Blanchisseuses de Magdalen (1998) inspired the making of The Magdalene Sisters (2002).
See?
PR works.
Saskia email Via Kevin Higgins
French TV Documentary (JPRodgers)
“General grave”
And this from a woman of God? Those poor little kids didnt even warrant a proper burial?! F** that for a game of soldiers!
“A general grave” ie. Mass burial.
Every cemetery in the country ie. Mass burial.
Nope. A cemetery is a collection of individual graves. Big difference between that and a mass grave.
A mass grave suggests lots of people buried/dumped at the same time e.g after a mass murder, famine etc.
Unmarked common graves can be found all over Ireland.
Or a single grave used for multiple people over a period of time.
They may exist inside a cemetery but still not a cemetery as you suggested above.
The important thing here to focus on is the dictionary definition of what exactly a general grave is, obviously.
Glasnevin is a cemetery and has many common unmarked graves
I don’t really see what your point is here, or your motive in making it? Bottom line is it was a mass grave, whether it was filled in all at once or over a period of time.
Oh come on, I wish I looked like Terence Stamp!
Sometimes an image says more than anything else.
http://s2.hubimg.com/u/4410533_f520.jpg
The word “unfortunately” often comes across to me like “Yeah. I can help you. I’m just not going to bother.”
Great post.
The glibness of the letter really speaks for itself.
As, in its own way, does the way in which it is presented in this post. Well done.
It’s funny how she’s supposed to be the best in the business at spin, and yet she does a terrible PR job for herself by sending emails with such a tone as the above.
It’s like the old joke about Max Clifford –
“if he’s so good at PR how come everyone thinks he’s a c*nt?”.
+1
Awful woman. I doubt she has a moral/principal that she wouldn’t sell out if she was being paid.
“English-owned paper (the Mail)”?
Fecking Brits, up to no good again (though, wasn’t it the Yanks who really brought the story to world prominence). The only solid gold certainty is that it sure as hell wasn’t the Irish media which uncovered it.
I have never met Terry Prone nor ever had any dealings with the woman, but I really dislike everything about her. Every new article I read about her increases the amount I dislike her.
…welcome to Broadsheet Nikkeboentje ….it’s always nice to meet new people….
She says the Sisters never worked in Tuam, and Sister Ryan says they did.Am I missing something?
It reads as if the only thing in her mind was how to dissuade Ms. Weber from proceeding with the documentary.
Now that it is in public domain, it becomes a great tool for whoever wants to put Terry Prone’s professionalism and ethics in question. She couldn’t possibly argue that that there aren’t multiple intentional lies in her letter.
….she’s trying to supercede the Striesand effect
Very unprofessional and extremely arrogant letter by Prone. This is what the arrogance of the Church must have been like, still is in fact. Complete PR fail.
Give that commenter a cookie.
“In reality, between 1925-1961 when the home was run by the Bon Secours Order of nuns, 79 per cent of the children born there did not live to the age of one.”
The death records mentioned in that link are for children of all ages who died there, not just those who died before their first birthday.
Interestingly, she reveals what the official line on the Tuam home may well be.
> English-owned paper (The Mail)
> you’ll find no mass grave, no evidence that children were ever so buried,
> Yeah a few bones were found, but this is an area where Famine victims were buried. So?
I understand, if the claims that the bodies and bones of these children have rotted down, then the main body of evidence, is in the corpse journal, kept by the nuns.
Presumably, this can be mislaid or lost, and job done.
I said sumtin’ wong… :(
I would imagine that Broadsheet are very concerned about receiving legal letters.
In unrelated developments very interesting to see Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively choosing to sue Heat here in Ireland – serious proof of how harsh the libel laws in Ireland are that celebrities are engaging in litigation tourism to sue here
You’re not the only one Clampers.
Cretin.. Is cretin allowed?
I can’t get any nicer now..
been muted twice now on this thread. strangely proud of this
She’s very odd indeed, anytime I have heard her speak it’s always in a condescending tone suggesting she is merely tolerating the person she is speaking to.
Yeah, I’ve heard her a few times.
I usually switch off. Is that allowed? Sorry but I do.
Cretin. That’s all I’ve to say about that.
she knows it all you see. years ago i bought one of her books ‘write for the market’. it put me off writing as a career though there was some good advice in it to be fair.
Oh come on Broadsheet, you can’t post pictures of The Crone and then get all censorious when people get a bit bilious in their reactions ;)
Prone’s letter is unprofessional and rude. PR to the worst of Ireland.
That letter was not intended to be a PR exercise. It was an attempt of deceit
Telling a foreigner that “sure wasn’t it a load of foreigners that started all these scurrilous lies about the good nuns!”
I wonder how many pieces of silver she received for her PR expertise.
Excuse for a human being.
How did Saskia Weber come to send this to Kevin Higgins? Was this a professional inquiry? And in what capacity did Kevin Higgins send it to Broadsheet.
Saskia Weber will be making a documentary on the treatment of Muslims in France soon, yeah?
Odious.
money talks and bullshit walks as they say round your way
Top work BS!