‘A priest groomed me at boarding school by giving me tobacco – and I blamed myself'
It is the early 1970s and a boy is struggling to adapt to life at a Catholic boarding school in Leinster.
William Smith* is mercilessly teased about his English accent and he feels desperately homesick. Week after week, he finds he cannot fit in and he longs for the comforts of home. His father had been a boarder at the same school, too, when he was a child, and he might have hoped for some understanding about his predicament.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
8 hours ago
- The Journal
English backpacker pleads guilty to killing man while drunk driving on e-scooter in Australia
AN ENGLISH BACKPACKER has pleaded guilty after fatally crashing into a father-of-two while riding an e-scooter under the influence of alcohol in Australia. Alicia Kemp, from Redditch, Worcestershire, appeared in Perth Magistrates' Court via video link from prison on Monday, charged with dangerous driving causing death under the influence of alcohol. Another charge of causing harm to a passenger while under the influence of alcohol was dropped. The 25-year-old was over the Australian legal limit when she crashed into Thanh Phan, 51, while riding through Perth's city centre on 31 May. Mr Phan died in hospital days later after suffering a brain bleed. Kemp and the scooter's passenger also suffered minor injuries. Advertisement According to the Australian Associated Press, Kemp's lawyer Mike Tudori told reporters outside the court his client was 'nervous and worried' being a 'young foreign national girl' in an overseas jail. 'She's obviously done something stupid at the time,' he said. 'She obviously wasn't thinking level-headed and there's consequences, and she just wants to get on with her life.' Mr Phan's death thrust the issue of e-scooter regulations into Australia's national spotlight, prompting the City of Perth and several other local councils to suspend e-scooter hire services indefinitely. In an earlier statement, Mr Phan's family described him as a 'beloved husband, father of two and dear friend'. Kemp will remain in custody and is due to appear before Perth District Court on October 31, when a date will be set for her sentencing. The charge of dangerous driving causing death carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Under Western Australian law, e-scooter riders must wear a helmet, be sober, carry no passengers and be aged over 16 years old.
Irish Examiner
20 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: We cannot allow hate to become the norm
What kind of society do we want if we allow violence, hate crimes, and assaults to become the norm? The increasing violence we see and hear of on a daily basis is not helped by online misinformation that promotes a culture of hate, violence, misogyny, and indifference, to our fellow human beings. Looking at the paper headlines of — 26,000 assaults on HSE staff, aggressive behaviour, assaults and abuse of staff in IPAS centres, and attacks on South Asian individuals — does not give a good impression of an Éire of a thousand welcomes. What we are seeing is Ireland becoming a country driven by extremes. Extremes of different cultures, and religions. We are no longer dominated by one or two religions or a single culture, which was predominately white and Catholic, but with differing cultures and religions from all over the globe. We are seeing a dramatic shift to a multicultural, as opposed to a monocultural, society where many varying and differing views have now been exposed but where some have not been accepted. What we have seen as part of this transformation is a shift away from the norms and values that we set in the earlier part of the 19th and 20th centuries, most of which led to inquiries of abuse and corruption at all levels of society, replaced by a more liberal open-minded society where borders are no longer a bar to entry and citizenship. But this, too, has led to a level of intolerance and increasing violence, taken advantage of by the extremists, which has divided differing societies and cultures, within our towns and cities. Our prisons and youth detention centres are at capacity, our frontline emergency workers are tackling an almost daily deluge of violence with some state agencies unable to cope with the relentless assaults on their staff. We need the rule of law to be fully implemented and where punishment fits the crime and a zero tolerance approach to those who attempt or promote intolerance and division. Can we do it? Yes we can, but we must remove the straightjacket that has been imposed on those on the frontline, where direct and decisive action is treated as an abhorrence, where disciplinary action is a constant, but where a softly, softly, approach of turning the other cheek is lauded as a virtue. How long before we adopt, as a collective society, a level of intolerance against those who promote division and violence? No amount of imposed or enforced legislation to stem this level of intolerance, violence, and hate has succeeded. This is because of the lack of will by successive governments to invest in programmes or services, and the constant barriers created by certain agencies and NGOs which constantly promote and defend the rights of those who agitate, while berating and undermining the services that protect us. Christy Galligan, Letterkenny, Donegal Female teachers 1850-1950 We are writing a book on the experiences of Irish female national school teachers, 1890-1950. We are interested in any material, such as diaries, letters, photographs, or other artefacts that your readers might share with us. If you have any information you would like to share, please email Judith Harford and Maria Luddy What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Dead Zoo reminds us of wildlife threat While I admire the concept of the Dead Zoo and welcome its reopening at a new location in Collins Barracks, Dublin, while the Natural History Museum is refurbished, I can't help regretting the demise of creatures that once trod the earth and are now just professionally stuffed sensations. When the collection was housed at the Natural History Museum, you could view tigers, lions, baboons, and water buffalo…among other mammals. They appeared to pose for the visitor — the bullet holes still visible in some of them. They looked noble and aesthetically pleasing in their glass and mahogany display cases, but I'd so much prefer to see them grazing, at rest, or running free in their own domain. The Dead Zoo came to mind recently when I listened to a talk on the threats to our wildlife. White-tailed eagles lovingly returned to our shores have been shot or poisoned. Despite the education campaigns, trigger-happy rural dwellers can't resist an opportunity to rid this island of an already rare species that adds so much to our eco-system and the natural balance in the countryside. Our supposedly protected badger is still under attack due to the perceived link between it and the spread of bovine TB. Our native hare, a sub-species unique to this island, has suffered a 50% decline over the past half century. Yet the State grants a licence permitting the capture of thousands for coursing. As with the white-tailed eagle and the badger, our law protects the Irish hare, but the same legal system exempts coursing from prohibition even while we're in the midst of a biodiversity crisis. So, while I'd recommend a visit to the Dead Zoo, I'd hate to think that the mighty white-tailed eagle, the long-suffering badger, or our beloved Irish hare would ever end up in what a Victorian writer called 'a cabinet of curiosities'. John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny Ireland's rise in opioid addiction I want to applaud the Irish Examiner's Niamh Griffin for her article on pain killers ('Painkiller addiction warning as opioid prescriptions rise by 25% in eight years', August 18). This lead story warns of the addiction risks presented by the rise in the use of painkillers in Ireland. Ms Griffin highlights a study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology using research by UCC among others where we find that there has been a 25% rise in the use of opioids and a 5O% increase in the use of medication containing oxycodone. The study points out that ocycodone is one of the drugs prescribed when other painkillers are not working. The study found a relative 389% rise in the use of Tepentadol which is another drug prescribed for chronic pain. I note that the authors of this research have said the long waiting lists for orthopaedic care such as knee operations can leave people with severe chronic pain, potentially waiting years for surgery. As a clinician, I believe that a multifaceted approach is crucial, focusing on non-pharmacological interventions along with addressing the underlying causes of pain. This includes exploring psychological therapies, physical therapies, and lifestyle changes as well as considering alternative pain management techniques. It's also vital for people to understand the potential risks with long-term painkiller use and this is why it's always important to prioritise patient education and support. I commend Niamh Griffin for her well researched article. John O'Brien, Clinical psychotherapist, Clonmel, Co Tipperary What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Suspects deserve benefit of doubt There has been a lot of discussion lately about the naming of suspects. Personally, I have always felt that it is fundamentally unfair on persons merely accused of having committed a crime to be named in the media prior to any trial or conviction. No matter the eventual outcome their good name and presumption of innocence will inevitably take a hit. Even if acquitted of the crime of which they are accused and told by the judge they are 'free to leave the court a free person', their naming in the media will inevitably haunt them as there will always be prejudiced and merciless people who will nod 'knowingly' and say 'there's no smoke without a fire' and assume the mere fact of being arrested and appearing in court is enough to prove a person's guilt. The argument that 'revealing the person's name could help other victims come forward' does not hold any weight with me. The accused ought be freed or convicted on the strength of the evidence for the specific crime for which they are on trial, not the weight of putative accusations for which they are not on trial. The media could choose voluntarily not to name anyone merely accused of committing a crime and it would not take a 'gag order' from the courts to do this — it would simply take an ounce of humanity on the part of journalists and their editors who report on court cases. It would simply take recalling the famous dictum 'do unto others…' I would like to see a change in the Law in this regard, but until then, the media (and social media) could lead the way by doing the right thing and have a shred of humanity and not name or identify any suspect unless or until they have been found guilty of the crime with which they were charged. Nick Folley, Carrigaline, Co Cork Read More Letters to the Editor: Croke Park 2026 calendar should be nailed down now
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Arrests reach 522 following Palestine protest in London
London's police service has said that officers had arrested 522 people the previous day for breaching anti-terror laws by supporting the recently proscribed group Palestine Action. In an update to its previous arrest tally, the Met said all but one of those 522 arrests took place at a Parliament Square protest and were for displaying placards backing Palestine Action. The other arrest for the same offence took place at nearby Russell Square as thousands rallied at a Palestine Coalition march demonstrating against Israel's war in Gaza. The 522 total is thought to be the highest ever recorded at a single protest in the UK capital. The Met made 10 further arrests, including six for assaults on officers, though none were seriously injured, it added. The force said the average age of those arrested yesterday was 54, with six teenagers, 97 aged in their 70s and 15 octogenarians. A roughly equal number of men and women were detained. The government outlawed Palestine Action on 5 July, days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated £7 million (€8.08 million) of damage to two aircraft. The group said its activists were responding to Britain's indirect military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza. Britain's interior ministry has insisted that Palestine Action was also suspected of other "serious attacks" that involved "violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage". In a statement following the latest mass arrests, interior minister Yvette Cooper defended the government's decision, insisting: "UK national security and public safety must always be our top priority". "The assessments are very clear - this is not a non-violent organisation," she added. 'Concerns' But critics, including the United Nations and groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned its proscription as legal overreach and a threat to free speech. "If this was happening in another country, the UK government would be voicing grave concerns about freedom of speech and human rights," Greenpeace UK's co-executive director Areeba Hamid said Saturday. She added the government had "now sunk low enough to turn the Met into thought police, direct action into terrorism". Police across the UK have made scores of similar arrests since July 5, when being a member of Palestine Action or supporting the group became a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Police announced this week that the first three people had been charged in the English and Welsh criminal justice system with such backing following their arrests at a July 5 demo. In its update Sunday, the Met revealed a further 26 case files following other arrests on that day are due to be submitted to prosecutors "imminently" and that more would follow related to later protests. It believes 30 of those held Saturday had been arrested at previous recent Palestine Action protests. Eighteen people remained in custody Sunday lunchtime, but were set to be bailed within hours, the Met added. It noted officers from its counter-terrorism command will now "work to put together the case files required to secure charges against those arrested as part of this operation".
