National cancers – are we looking for a cure?

I have long believed that the cancer in Irish society was sectarianism. It is pervasive and unless tackled and managed will undermine the potential development of the North as a region and this island as a nation.

Today in the Irish Times Elaine Byrne identifies another malignant disease lurking in our midst; silence.  Writing about the Murphy report into clerical child abuse in the Dublin Diocese, Byrne asks:

Why did this happen? Why?

Is there something particular to Irish society which facilitates a mindset that accepts a culture of secrecy and a behaviour that blindly embraces perverse notions of superiority? Where did this entrenched fear of offending the powerful come from?

Did a hierarchical imbalance of political, economic and social authority create centralised institutions characterised by monarchical structures occupied by princes of privilege?

Institutions devoid of accountability and naked of responsibility which pretended to live in a Republic.

We didn’t ask questions. Instead, a culture of ingrained learned powerlessness becomes normalised. This subservient way of thinking became a shroud of impunity for those in positions of power.

Resignations are politely requested and never demanded and where they occur are accompanied by generous golden handshakes, by way of apology, for asking for them in the first place.

So here is the question for those in political and moral authority, North and South.

Are we looking for a cure to either of these cancers?