Irish Catholics reaped what they sowed.

Here were four million ‘independent’ people who all to some degree knew how rife abuse was amongst The Catholic Church in their country and often the ‘goings-on’ at their local parish – yet mostly sat silent – talking about it only to close confidants over a pint of stout at the pub.

Let’s not forget there were 20,000 known victims over three decades – that’s the populations of Ashburton, Rakaia and Methven all put together – so don’t go telling me all this abuse was a secret.

A taboo subject amongst believers perhaps - never a secret.

Knowing how women gossip (I’m married and have a daughter) there is no way that any rumours of abuse on this scale would stay confined within church circles.

Every victim had a family and friends.

Vast tracts of The Irish Police force and Government actually knew the names of priests who were kiddy-fiddlers, but as Catholics first and law-enforcers/protectors of society second – they did little or nothing.

Indoctrinated and complicit parents were happy to put at risk the own safety of their children – hoping that the local priest would pick someone else’s child.

What were the millions of Irish adults afraid-of by largely staying silent about the self-evident on-going abuse?

This self-imposed quiescence on a mass-scale has parallels to Stalinist Russia.

People were afraid to speak-out – knowing full well they would be ostracised and that the local coppers were in league with ‘the’ church and would never investigate complaints anyway.

Any complaints/accusations directed to the Church would be similar treated.

That’s to say – with distain and callous disregard to the victims.

Yet rather audaciously we now have heard calls just this week for St Patrick Day to become a national holiday here in New Zealand! Kiwis are meant to celebrate the man who first bought Catholicism to Ireland! Like f*ck! I would rather work than have a day-off in reverence to this prick. It’s his evangelism and adherence to a corrupt & flawed church that has subsequently wrought so much misery upon thousands of Irish children.

This mass-child abuse on a scale with no parallel, is not only an indictment on The Catholic Church in Ireland but every Irishmen who stood-by and did nothing, knelled in front of their local priest the same way as an altar-boy at a sleep-over did the night before.