Watch: 'They didn't hear our daughter' — Family rejects findings of €13.6m Grace case inquiry
Fran O'Keeffe was fostered in the same home as 'Grace'.
Now Fran's mother and sister tell Alison O'Reilly why the family abruptly took her out of that home when she was 12, and explain what they say are the shortcomings of the Farrelly Commission
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Irish Independent
04-06-2025
- Irish Independent
File on GSOC investigation into fatal hit and run with DPP
A decision will then be made about what charges are to be preferred. No timeline has been given yet. The 44 year old was walking home and crossing the road near his home at the Highlands, Drogheda on St Patrick's night, 2024 when he was knocked down. He died shortly afterwards at the scene. His death caused great anger and heartbreak in the locality. The car involved was later identified and an off duty Garda is believed to have been driving the vehicle. One young member was subsequently suspended and returned to his native county. A full scale GSOC investigation was launched and several people including other Gardai were questioned. One member was formally arrested and interviewed. GSOC confirmed that its investigation is complete and the file is with the DPP. It is now waiting on a decision on what charges are to be brought against those involved. Niall MacEneaney played hurling for the Wolfe Tones and Mattock Rangers during his career. During his time as manager he won the Louth senior hurling championship with Termonfeckin in 2022 and 2023. He is survived by his wife Grace and his parents. The family have not made any public comment on the case.
Irish Times
13-05-2025
- Irish Times
The State deploys the three Ds to silence whistleblowers: delay, deny, destroy
One of the many distressing threads in the story of 'Grace' , and of Marjorie Farrelly's report on the serious allegations of abuse against a severely disabled young woman in a foster home, is the treatment meted out to whistleblowers who eventually rescued her. In 2017, the social worker who had first raised a red flag about the plight of Grace and who had toiled for seven years to secure a settlement of €6.3 million for Grace and placement in a secure, caring home, was asked about her exhausting campaign: 'Would you do it all over again?' She answered, 'Yes, it was absolutely worth it'. Recently, following release of the Farrelly Commission report , she was asked the same question in a radio interview, and she answered, 'No, no, what's the point?' The voice of 'Paula' – a pseudonym given to the social worker – on the radio clearly conveyed that she has been traumatised by the whole affair. Her fellow whistleblower, Iain Smith, was reported as expressing similar sentiments . Smith said: 'I think anyone who's thinking of coming forward in Ireland and divulging tales of abuse that they have heard of in their workplace needs to know what the State can do to you.' READ MORE There are countless cases of institutional retaliation against whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing and of silencing citizens who seek truth or justice from the State. Recall the vicious treatment of Garda sergeant Maurice McCabe – who stood up for better standards in An Garda Síochána but was 'repulsively denigrated' as a result, a subsequent report by Mr Justice Peter Charleton found – or the draining experience of the O'Farrell family who have sought, for 14 years, the truth about the driver who knocked their son Shane off his bike in 2011 and killed him. Reflecting on these cases makes it clear that a well-rehearsed playbook is being routinely employed to deal with people in search of answers from the State. A former MI5 spy, who now goes by the name Sam Rosenfeld, says that the strategy of MI5 in dealing with people who expose wrongdoing by security services is 'three Ds', signifying delay, deny, destroy. Whatever about MI5, this neatly sums up the Irish State's playbook. In his book, Just Freedom: a moral compass for a complex world , Irish political philosopher Philip Pettit cites two other weapons employed by the State: anonymity and bottomless pockets. Of course, this playbook doesn't exist as a physical document. It is a suite of cunning manoeuvres transmitted through nod and wink among a coterie of public servants and colluding public relations and legal advisers, and sometimes politicians, who see their mission in life as the protection of the reputation and careers of senior officials, government ministers and State institutions and the neutralising of reporters of wrongdoing, whom they deem expendable. Deny Even when the dogs in the street know what's going on, denial takes the form of shooting the messenger and spin. Judge Peter Charleton denounced pervasive use of spin in his report on the Disclosures Tribunal as 'meaningless public-relations speak' and 'a hideous development in Irish public life'. Delay It took 43 years for a verdict of 'unlawful killing' to be delivered regarding the Stardust tragedy ; and families regularly emerge from the courts after years battling for nothing more than the truth of what happened to their loved ones in hospital. Rosenfeld called this tactic 'the weaponisation of time'. Destroy The sheer length of time it takes to get justice is enough to defeat an unknown number of people, who just give up. Delay is compounded by exploiting legal loopholes – real or invented. For example, documents that a complainant is entitled to see are withheld for months and then, when forced to disclose, the institution seeks to overwhelm the complainant by releasing several thousands of pages of documentation. One family who sought the records of their child's surgery from Temple Street children's hospital had to go to the High Court to secure the information. Other more crude tactics include publicly smearing the reporter of wrongdoing, moving them to a non-job and isolating them, or seeking to reframe genuine protected disclosures as breaches of data protection laws or the Official Secrets Act. Anonymity It is common for officials to say the person responsible for a particular decision cannot be named, 'on legal advice'. Judge Mary Ellen Ring, when chairing the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission ( GSOC ), threatened to sue An Garda Síochána for failing to co-operate with an investigation into alleged Garda misconduct; but who precisely in An Garda was not co-operating? Anonymity means no personal accountability. Bottomless pockets Officials who adopt these tactics to neutralise whistleblowers and truth seekers have seemingly no concern about the enormous cost to the State of their distorted understanding of public service. Recently in the Dáil, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said of the paediatric spinal surgeries controversy , 'there must be accountability'. A few days later, Minister Norma Foley commenting on the Grace story proclaimed, 'this must never be allowed to happen again'. However, political hand-wringing, abject apologies and pay-offs with multi-million-euro redress schemes will change nothing. Tragedies and cover-ups have happened before, they are undoubtedly happening now and they will assuredly happen again, unless the Government steels itself to embed effective systems of governance and personal accountability. This means accountability with consequences. Building on the good work of the Office of the Ombudsman , the Government must systematically root out the routine deployment of the cynical playbook outlined here, which undermines the democratic right of citizens to truth and justice, destroys lives, erodes trust in State institutions and costs a fortune. Eddie Molloy is an independent consultant specialising in large-scale institutional change
RTÉ News
07-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Calls for Grace report author to come before committee
TDs have repeated their calls for the author of the Farrelly Commission into the Grace foster abuse case to come before an Oireachtas committee to explain her findings, saying the case is "a litmus test" for how vulnerable people are treated in Ireland. Speaking during the second Dáil statements debate on the Grace case and Farrelly Commission, Government and opposition party TDs said questions remain over what happened and why certain conclusions were drawn. 'Grace' is the pseudonym of a woman, now in her 40s, who has been in the care of the State all her life. She has profound intellectual disabilities and is non-verbal. The State investigation into the case has made findings of neglect in her care, dental neglect, financial "mismanagement or abuse", and an absence of oversight and monitoring from officials meant to ensure her safety. Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said he is "just appalled by what happened to Grace, and also the failure to delivery the justice and truth she deserves". He said that "the facts of this case are hard to believe", including the fact Grace was placed at an unregistered home, was not visited by a social worker for six years, and that there were prior abuse concerns at the home. Mr Carthy said "the case is a litmus test for how we treat vulnerable people in society" and said as the incoming chair of the Oireachtas committee on justice he will seek "a role" in examining the Farrelly Commission findings. He said in his view this should include why submissions on behalf of Grace by the general solicitor of the high court for wards of court and minors, Marie Claire Butler, were not included in the final report. Mr Carthy also said that "the Oireachtas must insist [Farrelly commission chair] Marjorie Farrelly explains" her decision, saying: "To silence Grace after all she's been through is nothing short of appalling." In a separate statement to the Dáil, Independent Ireland TD Ken O Flynn said in his view the Grace case shows that what happened was "not just because they [officials] didn't know but because those in power didn't act". Mr O Flynn said under Dáil privilege that in his view "instead of accountability [from officials involved in the case] what did we get: obstruction, denial and extreme cowardice". He said officials have "no right to claim surprise" over the case as "the red flags were there for everyone", saying "we need to stop the culture of cover-up that plagues this State again and again". His party leader, Michael Collins, repeated the concerns, saying that in his view the "absence of definitive answers leaves many feeling justice not done here". That view was shared by Aontú TD Paul Lawless, who said he believes Marjorie Farrelly "should come before an Oireachtas committee to answer questions". Raising questions over why submissions on behalf of Grace by the general solicitor for the high court were not included in the report, Mr Lawless said: "The saddest thing about the case in Grace is she was unable to speak for herself, and yet the testimony from her lawyers was not included in the report." People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger said the Grace case is "one of the most upsetting things to happen in this country" and that "we will be speaking about it for a long, long time". Their comments were repeated by a number of Government TDs, including Fianna Fáil's Paul McAuliffe who said that in light of the Farrelly Commission findings he believes there needs to be an examination of whether commissions of investigation are "appropriate and the way forward". He said it is "deeply worrying" the general solicitor of the high court's submissions on behalf of Grace were not included in the report, and that the findings should be discussed at the Oireachtas disability committee when it is established. Fine Gael TD Kiera Keogh said the case is "not just a failure, it is a failure of humanity", while Independent TD Barry Heneghan said "what happened was wrong, but the real question is what are we going to do to make sure it is not going to happen again". Responding to the remarks, Minister for Children Norma Foley said the Farrelly Commission is an independent statutory body and "by design and by law" is independent of Government, the minister of the day and of the Dáil and Seanad. Ms Foley repeated her comments last week that the commission has written to her department to say it believes it "fully discharged its responsibilities". She said the Grace case "rightly caused concern when it emerged" and that "Grace and all other children must be at the forefront of our minds".
