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THE IRISH TIMES, NORA WALL AND GERRY KELLY

Sunday, 25 November, 2007 9:03 PM
From: "Rory Connor"
To: mercy@

Sisters of Mercy

Dear Sisters,
This is my latest "summary" article. It is one of half a dozen that sum up my work over the past 8 years or so, on behalf of those falsely accused of child abuse.

The article is about one man only - Gerry Kelly, a founding member of the "Alliance for Healing of Institutional Abuse". However - between assaulting bishops and making false allegations of child murder and abuse - he crops up everywhere.  In particular he crops up in relation to your former member, Nora Wall.

I see from a report in the Irish Time on 9 April 2002 that, after harassing the bishops he was comforted by Bishop Willie Walsh and then burst into tears. I am reminded of a comment by a character in one of Solzhenitsyn's novels - "sentimentality goes hand in hand with savagery; with the German's it's a national trait".

A similar comment could be made about the Sisters of Mercy because you twice apologised to people like Gerry Kelly - if you cross sentimentality with savagery you get the Sisters' brand of "Mercy"!

This is on the website www.alliancesupport.org

Regards,

Rory Connor


Rory Connor <hallisseypat@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:26:58 +0000 (GMT)
From: Rory Connor
Subject: THE IRISH TIMES, NORA WALL AND GERRY KELLY
To: Professor Vincent Comerford , Ronan Fanning , Dr. Colum Kenny, Daire Keogh , Dermot Keogh , "Dr. Eoin O'Sullivan" Professor Irene Whelan, Editor History Ireland , John Horgan , Louise Fuller Maynooth

THE IRISH TIMES, NORA WALL AND GERRY KELLY

[ On Friday 23 July 1999, Nora Wall was sentenced to life imprisonment on bogus charges of raping a child. Many people are aware that the tabloid press published a series of obscene attacks on the former Sister Dominic. It is not so widely known that 'The Irish Times' led the pack. The following story was published on the very next day by our great liberal newspaper. It features Gerry Kelly who was a founding member of the victims' group "Alliance".

This was not Gerry Kelly's only involvement in  the saga of Nora Wall. Following Wall's conviction, he attempted to get a "close family friend" of his to make ANOTHER rape allegation against the former Sister of Mercy. This attempt come to a sudden end after the collapse of the case against Nora Wall.  [1]

Moreover on Louis Lentin's TV documentary "Our Boy's", (first broadcast in October 1999) Gerry Kelly claimed that, while he was at Artane, he had attended the funerals of boys who had been beaten to death by the Christian Brothers. No boy died of any cause while Gerry Kelly was at Artane. [2]

Also in April 2002 Gerry Kelly physically confronted the Papal Nuncio and three bishops after a bishops' meeting in Maynooth. [3]

Did 'The Irish Times' make the slightest effort to check Gerry Kelly's credibility. Or did they just assume that, because Nora Wall had been convicted, they could get away with anything?


Rory Connor
25 November 2007

[1] "Gerry Kelly and Nora Wall" on www.alliancesupport.org on 10 August 2006 quoting articles in "Ireland on Sunday" dated July/August 1999

[2] "Gerry Kelly and the Christian Brothers" also on www.alliancesupport.org on 10 August 2006

[3] "Gerry Kelly: Victim Demands Answers" on www.alliancesupport.org on 14 May 2007 ]


"I Discovered Sr Dominic in Bed with Another Nun"
Irish Times, Saturday, 24 July, 1999

A former resident of St Michael's Child Care centre in Cappoquin witnessed an extraordinary scene involving Nora Wall when he returned there as an adult. Mr Gerry Kelly says that in 1979 he saw Wall, then Sr Dominic, in bed with another nun at the centre. He says he was invited by the nuns to join them.

Mr Kelly, who had previously been physically and sexually abused at the Artane Industrial School run by the Christian Brothers in Dublin, did not experience or witness any sexual abuse at St Michael's, where he lived for six years from the age of 11 in 1969.

However, while his life improved, he has only bad memories of Wall, who was yesterday given a life sentence for the rape of a 10-year-old girl at the centre.

Mr Kelly first encountered Sister Dominic when she taught him Irish and religion at St Anne's Secondary School.

"She was always telling me I was stupid, I was a dunce, I'd never be any good, and not to be disrupting the class."

Beatings by her, he says, were routine. "She'd come and stand beside your desk and ask you a question, knowing you wouldn't have the answer. Then she'd hit you a box or she'd catch you by the locks of your hair and lift you out of your desk." She also kicked him on two occasions.

At St Michael's, he had no direct contact with Wall who, after he left in 1975, ran the home known as Cois Ceim, one of two bungalows which make up the childcare centre.

Four years after leaving, he returned for the funeral of a young man who had grown up in the centre and who had died in an accident. Mr Kelly says that after the funeral a number of people were invited back to Cois Ceim where Wall and some of those present began drinking heavily. He was a non-drinker at the time. At about 8 p.m. he was invited by someone present - he cannot remember who - to go to Wall's bedroom.

"To my horror I discovered Sister Dominic in bed with another nun . . . I was asked to join in."

The invitation, he said, was extended by the nuns themselves. Asked if he could have misconstrued what was taking place, he added: "Well, they had nothing on them and they were kissing one another and fondling one another. Could I possibly have misconstrued that?"

Mr Kelly said he left the room immediately and two hours later reported what he had seen to the nun who had been in charge of St Michael's during his time there, Mother Mercy.

Mother Mercy, who is now dead, told him she would deal with the matter and asked him not to tell anyone. Mr Kelly is a founder member of the Alliance for the Healing of Victims of Institutional Abuse, and was a member of a delegation which met the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, last month.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/1999/0724/99072400038.html

[1] GERRY KELLY AND NORA WALL

Added to www.alliancesupport.org on August 10, 2006

The following two articles appeared in Ireland on Sunday in July/August 1999 shortly after Nora Wall and Pablo McCabe were convicted of raping a child. The first is dated just after Nora Wall was sentenced to life in prison (by a judge who described her as a "gang rapist".) The second appeared after the spectacular collapse of the case against the accused. You will note that there is a distinct change in the tone of the second article.

ALSO these articles illustrate how a false allegation of child abuse can be made.

Rory Connor
9 August 2006

(i) Ireland on Sunday, 25 July 1999 (extract) John Mooney and Kathy Donaghy

Since the conviction, a number of former residents of St. Michael's child care centre in Cappoquin have come forward to state that the picture painted in court bears no resemblance to the Nora Wall they knew.

However one former resident told Ireland On Sunday that he knows of a former female resident at the centre who claims she was raped by Nora Wall.

Gerry Kelly, 42 who now lives in Cappoquin and is a founder member of the Alliance for the Healing of Institutional Abuse, said that the woman, who is now 25 years of age and in a very distressed state, came to a meeting of former residents of the centre, which was held in Dungarven on July 8.

He said Regina Walsh, the gang rape victim of Nora Wall and Pablo McCabe was also at that meeting.

He said the woman, who is a close family friend, [my emphasis] was raped by Wall, then Sister Dominic of the Sisters of Mercy, at least once during her time at the centre between 1982 and 1990.

He said the young woman needed help but was not yet prepared to come forward. "She is not even prepared to talk to counsellors yet ", he said.

Kelly said he would hold another meeting for residents of St. Michael's in September.

(ii) Ireland on Sunday, 1 August 1999 (extract) Eugene Masterson

Former residents were invited to a meeting in Dungarven on July 8 last to hear how they could process compensation claims if they felt they were abused there [My emphasis].

The meeting was organised by the self-proclaimed Alliance for the Healing of Institutional Abuse (AHIA). The founder is 42-year-old Gerry Kelly.

Kelly lives outside Dungarven and was a resident of St. Michael's from 1969 to 1975.

While alleging he was beaten there, he also claims it was like a holiday camp compared to the infamous Artane Industrial School in Dublin where he also spent time. ........

Gerry Kelly says that another proposed meeting for next month may be in doubt because of the overturning of the convictions.

"That case is after knocking the thing back, there's no justice in this country, you know yourself", he says. "A lot of things happened in Cappoquin that I didn't approve of and I went to the Reverend Mother in charge and I was told to keep it to myself what I saw.

This is all a f.... stitch up as far as I'm concerned". .......

Retired Garda sergeant Vincent Bergin and his wife Brid had for many years, the only house located across the road from the home. They would allow their six children to play in the home and invited kids from St. Michaels to their own house. One of the children they hosted was Regina Walsh.

Vincent Bergin described the allegations against Sister Dominic as "bloody ridiculous" ....
"Where Dominic made the mistake was that all those weirdos , although most of the people who went there were decent - she allowed them to come back and stay. She used to say: "That's their home, that's their only home".

The woman was naive."

[We can safely assume that no one is going to be that naive again and no one is going to invite children from an institution into their home either.]

[2] GERRY KELLY AND THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS.

Added to www.alliancesupport.org on August 10, 2006

(i) "OUR BOYS" by LOUIS LENTIN ON TV3
Louis Lentin's programme "Our Boys" was first transmitted by TV3 in October 1999 and was repeated on 12 November 2000. The first transmission was in the same year that Mary Raftery's "States of Fear"series was broadcast by RTE (April/May 1999). It was also shortly after Nora Wall and Pablo McCabe were falsely convicted of raping a child. This verdict was reversed by the Court of Criminal Appeal in July 1999 but neither Lentin nor Raftery learned anything from this debacle.

One of the chief "witnesses" in "Our Boys" is Gerald Joseph Kelly who was in Artane from 1966-69 and was 9 years old when he entered. He claims that he was sexually abused by one of the Brothers and complained to the Brother Superior. He says that the Superior demanded that Gerald say the allegation was false and trashed him for hours until Gerald said that he had lied. Gerry Kelly goes on to tell Louis Lentin: "I know Louis, I was one of the lucky ones. I got away that evening. Cause I know there were some kids who made complaints who never got away. I attended their funerals." [my emphasis]


(ii) CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AT ARTANE - letter to Irish Times, 25 November 2000

A chara,
On Sunday, November 12th, TV3 broadcast a one-hour documentary entitled "Stolen Lives: Our Boys" which had first been shown on the station in October 1999. The programme repeated a number of serious allegations against members of the Christian Brothers by former pupils of industrial schools.

One particular past pupil claimed that he had attended the funerals of boys who had died while in Artane. It was further implied that these boys had died following beatings administered by the Brothers. This allegation is completely untrue. The records show that no boy died in Artane during this person's time there. [my emphasis] This is a matter of verifiable fact.

In addition, this same past pupil claimed that a particular Brother who allegedly had been abusing him made certain lewd comments during Mass, as a result of which the pupil fainted and had to be transferred to the infirmary. Versions of this story have been repeated elsewhere, to the extent that the Brother is easily identifiable. However, the record shows that the Brother was not teaching in Artane at the time in question. That is also a matter of verifiable fact.

Elsewhere in "Stolen Lives", certain comments, said to have been made on radio, were attributed to a named spokesperson for the Christian Brothers, claiming that the Brothers rejected all allegations made against them. Such comments were never made.

This most recent airing of a programme containing unfounded, uncorroborated allegations is a matter of great concern to the Christian Brothers. It is deeply worrying that a national broadcaster chooses to deal with very sensitive matters in such a way.

Yours etc.

Br J. K. Mullan
Province Leader
Christian Brothers Provincialate,
Cluain Mhuire,
North Circular Road
Dublin 7.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2000/1125/00112500107.html

MY COMMENT: In the Middle Ages Jews were sometimes accused of murdering Christian Boys for ritual reasons. These accusations are called "Blood Libels" by historians. The accusers aimed for a minimal level of credibility and usually focused on a boy who had died suddenly (or disappeared). They then blamed the Jews.

In the 21st Century we have become more "progressive". A number of leading members of Victims' groups have accused the Christian Brothers of murdering boys AT TIMES WHEN NO BOY DIED OF ANY CAUSE. I refer to these as "Murder of the Undead" allegations. "Victimless Murders" is another possible description.

Rory Connor
10 August 2006