Slugger O'Toole

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Latest comments from querulus (see all)

querulus has commented 9 times (0 in the last month).

1. Comment on Policeman in hospital after car bomb attack
   on 9 January 2010 at 8:00 pm

   RC

   Good post, that about sums it up.

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2. Comment on Cardinal Cahal Daly dies…
   on 3 January 2010 at 12:46 am

   Turgon

   Fair enough

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3. Comment on Cardinal Cahal Daly dies…
   on 3 January 2010 at 12:35 am

   Both Turgon and The Spectator have indictated they are off-topic but may wish to continue to debate their differences. Can a separate thread be started to allow that, and reserve this one for those who have thoughts about the late Cardinal?

   I did not know the Cardinal. I most remember him for an impressive piece on TV about the family and marriage. 92 yrs is a good innings.

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4. Comment on Reading Blogs; why?
   on 2 January 2010 at 11:51 pm

   GGN

   “That is why I read the likes of Slugger, to learn about other people and their views” (GGN) – that to me is the value of Slugger, and good reason for you and others to keep blogging. I have read Slugger for years, have contributed very seldom, but return to it daily. It may not often uncover an important new event or fact to me, but it makes me think daily about things from others’ viewpoints. Some threads and arguments depress or annoy, but generally it is well worth the time.

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5. Comment on “Pages of half truths, opinions, bias, lies.”
   on 31 December 2009 at 8:49 pm

   USA
   I agree with some of what you appear to be thinking in that the focus of many contributions is on G Adams and how he can be damaged. To me the only focus at present, until court is over, ought to be on the welfare of the victim, Aine, and on minimising the risk to her case in any trial. The behaviour most in question is Liam Adams’. While I have a prejudice in favour of her as the victim, nothing should be said or done either to damage Liam Adams’ right to be tried fairly.

   If you are annoyed by others attacking G Adams as a distraction (it is all a distraction from the issue of child abuse in the North – post 1 above) you appear just as keen to distract. The issue is not ‘child abuse in the north’ – it is about child abuse in one home, Liam Adams’. Why do you want to broaden this to the whole country?

   However when the courts have settled one way or another what happened in Liam Adams’ home I certainly believe the role of the police, social services, G Adams, Fr Troy, youth contact by Liam Adams’ etc etc all need to be examined.

   What is the relevance of the Lammy fire – that has been in the news here recently, I think it was the Inquest? What did the police do wrong, or do badly? I don’t remember any criticism of them. You are right in suggesting G Adams was not responsible for Lammy but suggest that the police and social services were. Did the Inquest suggest that? I don’t remember that it did. Why did you not suggest the fire service were to blame too?

   What have the police done badly in the Hamilton case – seems to me they caught him once and got him convicted, then caught him again and got him convicted in a short space of time? What did the social services do wrong in this case either? The sentence seemed lenient for the first case but what had that to do with police or social services?

   Are you suggesting we should have police in every school here? There are teachers with responsibilities for pastoral care and NSPCC I think have counsellors in some schools. They should be able to help where children have problems. I am not sure I would have wanted a daily police presence in my children’s school.

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6. Comment on “I moved immediately both to stop that and to get him dumped out of Sinn Féin..”
   on 27 December 2009 at 8:53 pm

   I can understand the determination to damage G Adams, police, social services, sinn fein, Fr Troy etc etc for their roles in this tragedy. It is possible some or all deserve all that may come to them. I am not sure that now is the time to pursue them. By continuously highlighting the role of others we are repeating the mistakes of the past when Aine’s childhood abuse apparently was set aside by people/organisations with other agendas. I would hate to think that Aine is reading all this with a sense of deja vu – she is unimportant and her years of abuse are only important to people who can use them, not to get justice for her, but to settle scores for themselves. The possibility has been raised that the exposure may assist a defence, or frustrate a trial – devastating for the victim I am sure. Can the months leading to the trial not be used to research and prepare these attacks? When the trial is over and Aine is out of the public gaze, hopefully satisfied with the outcome, those other targets are fair game, but not to her detriment. I know I am repeating what I have said on other threads, but not many see this from Aine’s point of view. When we know if there is enough evidence to convict Liam Adams, or if he admitted it, then everyone involved can hopefully get what they deserve. And threads like these will be important in bringing their roles to the fore, whether for good or ill.

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7. Comment on Arrest warrants, judicial process and the presumption of innocence….
   on 24 December 2009 at 12:34 am

   I hope Aine finds some peace and the justice she seeks by the time all this is over, and I hope she does not read or hear how the web is dealing with it. From what I have read, and I have not read it in great detail, she was unhappy with the police response, her uncle’s response and possibly the priest’s response. Her father of course had mistreated her most. When she initially disclosed her abuse her interests were minimised and more powerful interests prevailed. Now she has gathered the courage to face it again, few seem to view it from her perspective, but as before, her abuse is grasped as a means to promote other interests such as attacking G Adams, police, Social Services, the role of Father Troy and to discuss whether it is a widespread problem in certain communities. The issue is what Liam Adams did to his daughter. Everything else to Aine is secondary, but we seem determined to set her aside to make other things the primary issue. Would it not be fairer to her to wait for the trial and hope for justice? Then, when she has hopefully survived the pressure of the trial and can move on with life, we can start the examination of all the secondary issues.

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8. Comment on Liam Adams hands himself in
   on 23 December 2009 at 4:02 am

   good news, hopefully brings closure nearer for the victim.

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9. Comment on “When will Sinn Fein apply these fine principles to its own President, Gerry Adams?”
   on 23 December 2009 at 3:58 am

   Has this topic not gone off-course? The present central issue is not what G Adams has done, or should do, and what questions he has to answer. A child allegedly was seriously abused for years by her father and has made a complaint which is ready for trial. Her father is on the run. She has waited years for the justice she seeks and we owe her at least the trial before we have a field day maximising the fall-out. If her father is found, a trial could take place in months, or sooner. Then more facts would be available. We could better consider what the police knew and did, what Social Services knew and did, and what G Adams knew and did. With the trial over and the victim out of the spotlight we could then seek to make people or organisations face their responsibilities. Until then, support for Aine and any other victims of the same abuse would be more welcome, more helpful, and possibly less damaging to the trial.

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