The boy's parents, Glenn and Faye Gastal, refused 'out of court' settlements and sought twelve million dollars in their lawsuit against the Catholic Church because, they said, it harboured the priest even after learning that he was a child molester. The predominantly Catholic jury also awarded the boy's parents 250,000 dollars. The abuse started when the boy was seven years of age.
Father Gilbert Gauthe was sentenced to twenty years in prison last October (ie October 1985) after admitting he molested the children at Saint John Parish Church in the community of Esther. The Lafayette Diocese has settled lawsuits with thirteen families against Father Gilbert Gauthe for a reported five-and-a-half million dollars, with not one of those thirteen cases going to trial...' (from 'The Evening Press' newspaper, 8th February 1986 ; thirty-seven years ago on this date.)
These are the same self-righteous hypocrites that, at the drop of a Bishop's hat, will - and have - condemned Irish men and women for challenging and seeking to change the political and social system in Ireland. A corrupt system which nurtures a corrupt Church.
'TRIBUTE TO DEAD REPUBLICAN.'
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, April 1955.
Oration given by Tomas MacCurtain at the grave of Domhnall Mac Suibhne, Ahane, Cullen, County Cork, who was laid to rest on March 7th 1955 -
"Therefore it fell to my lot, one of the younger generation who did not know him so intimately, to say what has to be said before we leave him to rest with his people.
He saw the beginning of the re-awakening and took part in the work of the Gaelic revival that gave our people once more a pride in their ancestry and in their heritage.
He took part in the revival of the movement for national independence and saw that movement coming to the glorious peak of resurgence when the whole might of the greatest Empire of the world could not cow the spirit of one small nation, and then he saw the peak and the decline from the height of resurgence to the grovelling depth of place-hunting and political jobbery..."
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (8TH FEBRUARY) 176 YEARS AGO : 'THE LIBERATOR' PLEADS - "ONE IN FOUR WILL DIE UNLESS YOU HELP..."
"Ireland is in your hands and in your power. If you do not save her, she cannot save herself. And I solemnly call on you to bear in mind what I am telling you now in advance, something of which I am absolutely certain, that one out of every four of her people will soon die unless you come to her aid..."
The use of the term 'famine', in this instance, is a misnomer if ever there was one - 'In the early summer of 1845, on the 11th September of that year, a disease referred to as blight was noted to have attacked the crop in some areas. In that year, one third of the entire crop was destroyed. In 1846, the crop was a total failure. This report came from a Galway priest - "As to the potatoes, they are gone – clean gone. If travelling by night, you would know when a potato field was near by the smell. The fields present a space of withered black stalks..."
Though 1847 was free from blight, few seed potatoes had been planted...yet the country was producing plenty of food. As the Irish politician, Charles Duffy wrote: "Ships continue to leave the country, loaded with grain and meat." As food was scarce people would eat anything such as nettles, berries, roots, wildlife, animals, dogs and cats in order to survive...' (from here.)
O'Connell pleaded with Westminster to save the people of Ireland who were being decimated by sickness and disease, caused by a lack of nourishment, and requested that, instead of building roads and other such infrastructure, the money available for same should be used to encourage the Irish to cultivate the soil to plant oats and barley etc, and a 'compromise' (of sorts) was arrived at - cheap Indian corn was brought into Ireland, for the people, sometimes on the same ships that, when unloaded, would then be loaded again with Irish-produced oats and barley - 'cash crops', according to the landlords, for export, not for home consumption!
The imported 'corn' was considered by the Irish to be a type of animal feed, the grain of which was so tough as to cause great pain and, even at that, the amount of it imported was inadequate for the number of people in need.
Daniel O'Connell died, age 72, in Genoa, Italy, 13 weeks after his 8th February speech and, as he requested, his heart was buried in Rome and the remainder of his body was buried in Glasnevin, Dublin. Father Ventura of the Theatine Order delivered the oration, during which he stated -
"My body to Ireland – my heart to Rome – my soul to heaven : what bequests, what legacies, are these! What can be imagined at the same time more sublime and more pious than such a testament as this! Ireland is his country – Rome is the church – heaven is God. God, the Church and his country – or, in other words, the glory of God, the liberty of the Church, the happiness of his country are the great ends of all his actions – such the noble objects, the only objects of his charity! He loves his country and therefore he leaves to it his body; he loves still more the Church and hence he bequeaths to it his heart ; and still more he loves God, and therefore confides to Him his soul! Let us profit then, of this great lesson afforded by a man so great – a man who has done such good service to the Church, to his country, and to humanity..."
It was on this date - 8th February - 176 years ago, that Daniel O'Connell delivered his last speech in the British 'House of Commons'.
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON.
From 'Magill' Annual, 2002.
Had the electoral rules entitled him to run again for the White House in 2000, few are in any doubt that Bill Clinton would be at this present moment in time relaxing in the Oval Office, toying with a fat Cuban and possibly smoking a cigar (!).
Alas, things have been on a slide for the teflon president ever since he swapped the White House for a modest office in Harlem (the rent being prohibitive in downtown Manhattan) where he hopes to eke out a career as a lawyer, public speaker and an international nuisance to the Bush administration.
Whereas the only decent thing for a US President to do upon leaving office is die, thus saving the taxpayer money on Secret Service wages and Presidential pensions, Clinton would appear to have a few hand-shaking, wistful decades in him yet ; not an alluring prospect for an operator weaned on the lust for power...
(MORE LATER.)
FUNDS AND FINE GAEL'S LEADER...
Michael Lowry has so far been the focus of media attention about Fine Gael fundraising.
But the party's current leader, Enda Kenny (pictured), hosted a £1,000-a-plate dinner two days before the second mobile phone licence was awarded. And other guests say that one of the bidders for that licence was in attendance.
By Mairead Carey.
From 'Magill' magazine, January 2003.
In August 2000, Michael Keating was named as a 'partner in crime' in Britain's largest ever tax scam and now faces arrest if he crosses the Irish Sea ; earlier this year, this former Lord Mayor of Dublin paid €250,000 to the 'Criminal Assets Bureau' who had been investigating him for five years.
Michael Keating says he cannot recall the fundraiser for Enda Kenny's re-election bid. He told 'Magill' that he attended hundreds of Fine Gael functions at that time and found them "a pain", but he does recall the consortium bidding for the 'National Conference Centre' contract - "Over the years I would have assisted anyone who asked me to obtain legitimate access to any politician, provided the request was proper," he told 'Magill'.
"Fundraising has been the stock-in-trade of political parties since the beginning of time. The culture of politics in this country (sic) is that funds are raised voluntarily and that leaves people open to suspicion and innuendo..."
(MORE LATER.)
Thanks for the visit, and for reading,
Sharon and the team.
We won't be here on Wednesday, 15th February 2023, or on Wednesday 22nd February, as we're off to Galway for a ten-day excursion - not a break, or a holiday, as there's two mini-busses full of us (!), adults and children and grandchildren - and we'll be leaving Dublin on Monday, 13th. We have family in the West and it's a big birthday for two of them, one on the 15th and one on the 20th, so instead of going for the first gig and then coming back to Dublin and then heading to Galway again a few days later, we decided to stay and give 'Cathair na dTreabh' (the 'City of Tribes') a taste of what about thirty mad Dubs get up to when they're being irresponsible!
We'll be back on Wednesday, 1st March 2023 with, among other pieces, a few paragraphs about a currie and an accountant (!) and a visit to these shores which helped focus world attention on an attempted genocide of the Irish people.
Thanks again -
See ye all on the 1st March ; we should have escaped from Galway by then and, in the meantime - if I can get my phone out of the evidence locker (!) - you can catch me on 'Facebook' and 'Twitter' between this and then, if yer gonna miss me that much!
