Michael KellyMainstream newspapers have been complicit in shameful denial of basic justice to priests accused of abuse, writes Michael Kelly
Sometimes media double-standards are almost breath-taking. Take the case of Pat Carey. The former Fianna Fáil minister was forced to issue a statement last week denying any wrongdoing in relation to allegations of child abuse. He had been contacted by many journalists after the media reported that an unnamed former minister was reportedly being investigated by Gardaí over allegations of abuse.
Mr Carey said he did not know if the allegations mentioned in the national press relate to him but that given the “unfounded” speculation that has arisen he would quit as Fianna Fáil Director of Elections and stand aside from the various other voluntary roles he is involved in.
Mr Carey, obviously enjoys the presumption of innocence of any wrongdoing, but the more pertinent and pressing discussion over the weekend was whether or not journalists should have:
(a) reported the Garda investigation in the first place and,
(b) contacted Mr Carey for comment apparently precipitating his statement.
Stephen Collins in The Irish Times described the treatment of Mr Carey by the media as “shameful”. He wrote that “a man’s reputation was casually shredded before he had even been informed by Gardaí that a complaint had been made about his alleged behaviour decades ago”.
Pat Carey was not named in the media reports, but his name was quickly swirling around media and political circles.
Damage
Stephen Collins observes that “the damage so casually inflicted on the reputation of a highly respected figure is something the media should reflect on” but opines “there is probably little prospect of that happening in a world of cut throat competition”.
Mr Collins believes that “in the past there would have been no question of the media reporting on and effectively identifying a person at the centre of a Garda investigation at such an early stage”. Ma, magari fosse vero, as an Italian friend of mine would say.
The Irish Times and other mainstream newspapers have been complicit in a shameful denial of basic justice to priests who are accused of abuse. Such priests are regularly named with wanton abandon in the mainstream media as soon as an allegation emerges. In some cases, priests accused of abuse have been named, their reputations “shredded” (to use Mr Collins’ word) only for no prosecution to take place, or, in some cases, the allegation to be shown to be false.
I don’t remember howls of protest from the mainstream media about the treatment of these priests. In fact, large sections of the mainstream media led the witch hunt.
Handwringing
Let me be clear, Mr Carey ought not to have been named, nor should journalists have hounded him; in fact, I don’t even think the ongoing Garda investigation in to allegations of abuse should be reported until someone was charged. But, the handwringing when a politician is unfairly treated by the media is in stark contrast with the reckless treatment of priests accused of abuse.
The Irish Times went lower than any other paper in 2011 when it printed – on its front page – unsubstantiated allegations of abuse against the late Archbishop of Dublin Dr John Charles McQuaid. The third-hand allegations were given enormous prominence in that newspaper, but no evidence has ever been offered.
I don’t know if Dr McQuaid was guilty of abuse, but I do know that he had a right to his good name which has been destroyed by The Irish Times. But no one in that paper raised even a murmur for fair play.
By far the oddest intervention on the Pat Carey story was when Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes wondered aloud on RTÉ Radio One whether the entire story may have been cooked up by ‘no’ voters in this year’s referendum on same-sex marriage. Perhaps, Mr Hayes laughably said, it was put about to get back at Mr Carey for his advocacy for same-sex marriage.
The most tragic thing, of course, is that Mr Hayes probably believes his own nonsense.