Commission To Inquire Into Child Abuse - Reform Starts in The 1960s

Reform Starts in The 1960s

The OECD reported on Irish schools and levels of education in 1962-68, as an essential part of the process of Ireland's 1973 accession into the EEC, providing the vital external stimulus for reform. Finally the 1970 Kennedy Report, prepared in 1967-70, though flawed in parts, led to the abolition of the schools over the next decade, starting with Artane in 1969. In the interim, tens of thousands of children had been inmates, some from infancy. Despite frequent complaints and enquiries that called for reforms, the official line until the 1990s was that nobody in government, the church or the civil service really knew what was taking place. Notably, Micheal Martin stated on 13 May 1999 that: The concept of the child as a separate individual with rights came late to this country.