Here’s Gerry Adams’ interview on RTE’s This Week in which he denies his party has held an inquiry into its handling of the Mairia Cahill affair. It’s sparked a lot of conversation already on Slugger’s Facebook page, which it well worth reading in conjunction with the recording.
Two striking aspects: 1, it’s notable RTE gave so much time on a matter many of thought was ‘over’, indicating they believe Mr Adams has not sufficiently addressed the matter; and 2, is the sheer intensity of Mr Adams’ responses.
It’s messy, because they seem to be talking about something that either hasn’t happened (despite Mr A’s engagement with the victim over several years) or may have happened but not in a form specified by the interviewer.
One particularly muddied aspect is Adams’ mixing of general good practice in the handling of victims of sexual abuse (go through the authorities) with how any private body might investigate allegations of how they’d handled such victim.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty