From top: Interim CEO of Tusla Pat Smyth; Labour TD Sean Sherlock; Ian Elliott, interim Safeguarding Manager at Scouting Ireland; Katherine Zappone

On February 27 last, the Minister for Children Katherine Zappone published a four-page letter which had been sent from Tusla to Scouting Ireland on February 18.

It followed Ms Zappone announcing last December that Scouting Ireland had identified 212 alleged abusers and 317 alleged victims of abuse and this figure was likely to rise.

Tusla’s partially redacted letter referred to three lives cases, saying:

Gaps arose in three situations. In one case on cub camp, a child exposed himself and sexually assaulted children in the tent.

In another report, a child was exposing himself and behaving in a sexually in-appropriate way in front of his camp mates and in a third case, at cub camp a child was acting out a forceful sex act on other children in the tent who were afraid to sleep for fear of being assaulted themselves.

These live case examples highlight a number of areas of poor practice and have left children exposed to risk of harm.

In addition the practice by SI personnel, redacted, as Head of Safeguarding to interview children in the circumstances described above is very concerning.

The letter also criticised that a helpline set up for people to receive allegations in relation to Scouting Ireland was being manned by Scouting Ireland personnel.

It also made eight child protection recommendations to Scouting Ireland – including that Scouting Ireland should consider “the viability of continuing with overnight trips given the concerns outlined”.

Further to this…

Members of Tusla and Scouting Ireland answered questions at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs this morning and this afternoon.

This morning, interim CEO of Tusla Pat Smyth told the committee that the letter was never meant to be made public.

In addition, Labour TD Sean Sherlock asked Ian Elliott, interim Safeguarding Manager at Scouting Ireland, about an inter-agency meeting which took place two days before Ms Zappone made this letter public – on February 25.

Mr Elliott said the meeting had been initiated by Scouting Ireland in November and it was an attempt to bring An Garda Siochana, Tusla and Scouting Ireland together – so Scouting Ireland could “actively review” the practice, co-operation and collaboration of the agencies and to give them a chance to request any further information from Scouting Ireland.

Mr Elliott said Tusla’s letter, which Scouting Ireland received on Friday, February 22, was discussed at the meeting of the February 25.

He said:

“I raised it by means of two questions which were then answered by the two agencies and in their answers, Tusla’s representatives, made reference to the letter. I actually knew that the two senior managers who were there had been copied into the letter.

“I didn’t permit too much discussion about the content of the letter…An Garda was there and I didn’t feel it was appropriate for that to happen.”

“It shocked me because I thought, well, you know, on one hand, we were receiving this letter, and on the other hand, well, I’m talking to people directly and individuals copied into this letter – they’re saying ‘no, everything’s fine, we have no concerns, we have no problems, no difficulties with what you’re doing and how you’re doing it’.”

Mr Sherlock put it to Mr Elliott that when Ms Zappone published the letter two days after this meeting, on February 27, “the bombshell was dropped” publicly – despite the issues apparently having been “addressed” at the meeting of February 25.

Mr Elliott agreed and said “that’s why the meeting was set up”.

He also said that he spoke with members of An Garda Siochana “at a very senior level” to ask if they were “absolutely satisfied” with how Scouting Ireland was operating and the “quality of information” that was going to the gardai.

Mr Elliott said: “I was assured that was the case.”

He added: “I don’t understand what has happened. If I could mention this. I think it’s important. If you’re going to criticise the practice of an individual in relation to safeguarding, then you need to have solid evidence.

“You need to actually examine either the case record or talk to the individuals involved in the practice… but none of that happened.”

Mr Elliott went on to tell Mr Sherlock that no case record has been examined by Tusla and no staff member of Scouting Ireland has been interviewed by Tusla.

Mr Sherlock said Mr Elliott’s comments have “thrown up a whole new can of worms”.

The TD said: “We had Tusla earlier on and we had a version of events, we have Scouting Ireland’s interpretation of events now and I just think it throws up a whole set of new questions…And there are now questions to be asked of department officials and the minister I think in respect of the matter arising out of the evidence we’ve just heard here.”

Watch the committee’s proceedings live here

Legacy of historic child sexual abuse in scouts ‘very painful truth’ (Jack Power, The Irish Times)

Behold: the Koda Light Float House – a zinc-clad dwelling surrounded by a generous deck on a pontoon raft connected to shore by a wooden bridge.

More house than boat (designed to be towed between locations), the minimal interior features double-height ceilings, an open living space, kitchen, and a lofted sleeping area from where to view the locale where you’ve chosen to dock.

uncrate

Craic Boi Mental – Irish 2Pac

‘Give me dis, give me dat, You want some crack? oh sh*t who’s that? It’s the Irish 2Pac…’

James M Chimney writes;

The four horsemen of the hiphopocalypse have just ridden by and left this (above) in their wake…It’s hardly ‘MF 1700 is how I roll, baling hay takes its toll. Bitches checking my frontage, knee deep in pussy, dripping in gold’ but shorty don’t have my lyrical skillz.

Craic Boy Mental

Yours for $50.

St Patrick’s Day 2019 MAGA Hats (Trump/Pence)

Thanks Mark Burns

Update:

Competition to run tomorrow. Thanks, Johnny (see comments).

An illustrated project by architect and artist Yunil Nam in pencil, collage and photomontage – a combined ‘funerary venue’ and coral cultivation facility in the Indian ocean inspired by (a) a tradition of Indian Zoroastrianism and (b) Jules Verne’s ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea’. To wit:

Indian zoroastrianism… involves the depiction of an historical and religious funerary place called ‘tower of silence.’ this tower is told to have the purpose of revitalizing endangered vultures which prey upon the dead bodies of humans….the architect proposes a process of decay and regeneration in the form of visionary burials called ‘tectonic vultures.’ this system consists of such new techniques in body decomposition as freeze-drying and liquefaction, transforming the human body into nutrients in the forms of powder and liquid. coral, the urban infrastructure of marine life, is then fed by those processes and subsequently reverted back into its natural condition.

Take from that what you will.

designboom

From top: Ruth Morrissey and her husband Paul outside the High Court last July, Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins; Tanaiste Simon Coveney

This afternoon.

In the Dáil.

Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins raised the nature of the questions put to terminally ill Ruth Morrissey, who has cervical cancer, by the HSE’s legal counsel in the High Court yesterday.

Ms Morrissey, who broke down in the witness box yesterday, is taking action over an alleged misreading of her smear slides in 2009 and 2012 taken under the CervicalCheck screening programme.

Yesterday was the 27th day of Ms Morrissey’s action.

Mr Collins said that last May, following Vicky Phelan’s High Court action, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told RTÉ’s Six One News that, in relation to women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal, “what we propose to do is to offer mediation in every case, so that women can avoid having to go to court and the trauma of a court hearing”.

Mr Collins added:

“He went on to say ‘what we will do in this situation is the State will settle and pursue the lab later’, so essentially the State will be on the side of the plaintiff, on the side of the woman.

“Now late on Monday, Ruth Morrissey was summoned to the High Court for yesterday, where she was subjected to a pretty robust and traumatising cross-examination by counsel for the HSE.

“Her family are quite upset about it and I think it draws into question, seriously, the commitments which were given to the women by the Taoiseach, namely that mediation would be offered. So what I want to ask you is: are you the happy that the mediation process, which the Attorney General was to counsel the State Claims Agency, to enter into a meaningful way. Are you happy that that is happening?

“Are you satisfied that the women who have been failed in this regard are being treated sensitively and properly by the State Claims Agency and that proper mediation process is being engaged in?”

In response, Tánaiste Simon Coveney said he acknowledged the “difficulty and the heartache” that Ruth and her family, and that of the other women, have had to go through.

He said:

“The State’s only objective is to support those people as best we can. To try to keep people out of court and to assure that there are settlements that are fair, available to the women and families involved.

“That is why yesterday, on Leaders’ Questions, I announced the detail of the ex-gratia scheme which is being set up now under the chairmanship of a retired High Court judge. So that we can ensure that families and victims and individuals get the support that the State wants to make available to them.

“I don’t have the exact details in relation to the legal arguments around this case, deputy, so I’m slow to comment on a court case but I know certainly the policy direction from the Government is very clear here, to the State Claims Agency.

“We want to try to keep these cases out of court, so that people don’t have to go through what is an adversarial court system in relation to assessing the extent of claims and compensation.”

Ms Morrissey, from Limerick, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014 and a recurrence of her pelvic wall cancer was diagnosed in February 2018.

Ms Morrissey and her husband Paul Morrissey have sued the HSE and the two US laboratories – Quest Diagnostics and Medlab Pathology Ltd.

Related: Telling woman of audit results would not have changed prognosis – consultant (Mary Carolan, The Irish Times)

 

Snowbie, who describes themselves as an amateur UK/Ireland weather historian and student, tweetz:

Maximum wind gusts for Storm Gareth in comparison with other storms of the season and the 2010s decade at Irish stations. Colour coded based on the warning system.

Red = In excess of 130kph
Orange/amber = 111 to 130kph
Yellow = 90 to 110kph

Meanwhile…

Carlow Weather tweetz:

Two planes playing X and O in the Sky 😁 plenty of bright spells over Carlow but cloud increasing from the West as winds start to ease off here.

Broadsheet.ie