My column in The Kerryman. 23 October, 2013
Loyalty is a strange creature. It’s considered to be among the best of our human virtues. We laud those who show it and condemn those without it. We embrace it, but we don’t think too deeply about it. We do not dwell on what loyalty really is.
Áine Adams was raped by her father. She waived her right to anonymity so we know that her ordeal was compounded by the actions of those who should’ve protected her. She had to endure a wholly disreputable police force and a powerful uncle whose priorities apparantly lay elsewhere.
When she first reported her father’s crimes to the RUC, the police appeared more interested in discrediting her uncle, Gerry Adams. She was less important than their struggle with her uncle. She also found no help in Gerry Adams. It seems his loyalties were with his brother and his cause.
Loyalty above the safety and welfare of children is not uncommon.
The most senior Roman Catholic official in Ireland is Cardinal Brady. He’s a loyal man. Back in the 70s, while investigating the actions of child rapist, Father Brendan Smyth, he swore some of the children who had been raped by his colleague to silence.
He made children take an oath of silence, then carried on with his loyal service to his church, rising to the position of Primate of all Ireland.
Should he be condemned for his true loyalty? If the ability of Roman Catholic priests to rape children without consequence, had never made the headlines, perhaps Ireland would still have an Embassy at the Vatican. Perhaps bishops wouldn’t have to explain themselves. If others had been more loyal to the Church, then this scandal might have possibly been covered up more successfully.
Loyalty to a cause, over and above the safety of children is not unique to Ireland. This country recently had the profound honour of hosting Malala Yousafzai. She is a Pakistani girl who insisted she and other girls have access to education. The education of girls runs counter to the religious beliefs of the Taliban. They shot her in the head. She managed to survive and received medical treatment in the UK.
Being loyal enough to turn one’s back on a child who was raped is something to behold. Being so loyal as to shoot a child in the head? Is it much different?
In the last 25 years, thousands of people have died trying to enter Europe illegally, children among them. Many of them drown in the Mediterranean as their over-loaded and rickety vessels capsize and sink, or they die of thirst when their boats lose power and drift in the sun for days.
They are mostly Africans and they are faceless. Thousands of private tragedies that do not impact on us, as our first loyalty is to what we think is our economic wellbeing. Our loyalty is to our families and friends who themselves have had to emigrate.
Loyalty is a strange creature, a virtue that can justify anything.
