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Gabriel Byrne says image of Ireland destroyed by church sex scandals

By
JANE WALSHE,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, December 28, 2009, 6:40 AM
Updated Monday, December 28, 2009, 8:31 AM

 

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Irish Hollywood actor Gabriel Byrne said Americans are shocked by the depth and nature of the abuse.
Irish Hollywood actor Gabriel Byrne said Americans are shocked by the depth and nature of the abuse.

Irish Hollywood star Gabriel Byrne says Ireland's friendly image in America has been blown away by the church sex scandal.

The actor told Irish radio that Americans were deeply shocked by the depth and nature of the abuse. "The day the Ryan report (about church pedophiles ) was published, I was in a cafe reading the paper. It was on the front page of The New York Times.

"That means that everybody who read the New York Times was confronted for the first time, more or less, with that information. They were shocked," said Byrne.

"A lot of people who live in America, and it's not their fault, have a stereotypical view of Ireland. You get a movie like 'The Quiet Man' and people arrive at Shannon airport and expect to be met by Barry FitzGerald.

"Like everybody else, I felt words that now seem inadequate to describe the horror of it. I felt this tremendous pain and hurt for my own country. A man in the cafe with me said to me: 'I didn't know they had concentration camps in Ireland.'

"I felt I am a product of that culture and that country. The man questioned me as to how I could live in a place like that.

"He said the Taliban are a horrific group of people and it sounded like I was raised like that. I said to him that it wasn't really like that. I said I knew it looked really bad here, but it's a very complex picture."

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Posted by Madeleine on Dec 29, 2009, 12:52 AM EST
I'm in America and we have gone through the same thing, I don't know where they all came from, there was no end to it. I certainly don't judge Ireland by a story in the NY Times, and that man who said those awful things to Gabriel Byrne should be ashamed of himself, how rude! This is not what people think of Ireland, its terrible, of course, but it is no reflection on the Irish people, it doesn't speak well of the Catholic church though, why is so much of this going on? They should be in jail like any other sex offender.
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Posted by IrishAndProud on Dec 28, 2009, 09:17 PM EST
Nonsense. This scandal has NOT ruined Ireland's image. These were the actions of a perverted few, and do NOT reflect on Ireland's populace, as a whole. If anything, the populace are seen as the victims here (which they were) and it only increases sympathy.
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Posted by Irishlassred on Dec 28, 2009, 09:13 PM EST
Well, Gabriel was a child - born and raised - in Ireland. Surely he can't be held responsible for the actions of elders. I maintain that no one - NO ONE! - ever said "no" to a nun or priest and lived to talk about it. Not here in America, in Ireland or any other predominantly Catholic country. It was what it was: I'm a bit younger then he, born and raised in America, and after the initial reports were made of American priests - years ago - nothing surprises me. What does surprise me is that people like Mr. Byrne, Liam Neeson, Frank McCourt, Richard Harris and others survived that existence as well as they did. And that it took as long as it did to come to the surface. No wonder the Church is loosing people hand over fist... read the Ryan report
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Posted by odonnell521 on Dec 28, 2009, 09:11 PM EST
Irish-American Catholics think no less of Ireland as a result of the church sex scandal. We've experienced the same tragedy in our own country's church, so most of us feel sorrow and sympathy for fellow Catholics, and hope and pray for healing for the victims.
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Posted by barneyjo on Dec 28, 2009, 08:49 PM EST
kickstar, are you by any chance calling me a "Redneck"? Just how would a "S**tkicker" know what a redneck is exactly?
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Posted by kickstar on Dec 28, 2009, 08:10 PM EST
Holy Shit all the Red necks are posting today
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Posted by tommie60s on Dec 28, 2009, 06:38 PM EST
I believe that the problem in Erie with the Catholic Church is no suprize, Look at what has happend in the USA and continues to happen. There is no excuse for what has been going on but at the same time is it right to go back 50 years and more to condemm the Church leadership, In Canada the media went back almost 100 years. Lets get it stopped and then move on. I miss my Church Tom Ryan
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Posted by killowen on Dec 28, 2009, 05:16 PM EST
shure tis bad - Paddy B ... but this scared weasels will never confront the cancer that has us all in harm's way.
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Posted by killowen on Dec 28, 2009, 05:07 PM EST
Rightous Gabrial Byrne fellow needs a meaningful comparison as discussion with his surround sound thespian kissy kissy fellows. Suggest he try this on for size and perhaps he'll realize that the chosen can do as they well may please - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8432267.stm
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Posted by Rebelforce on Dec 28, 2009, 04:48 PM EST
What "friendly image of Ireland" is Gabe referring to? Does he mean the one presented to Americans in Frank McCourt's #1 best-selling rant about Ireland, Angela'a Ashes?
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Posted by barneyjo on Dec 28, 2009, 03:45 PM EST
The man has his own view of the world, shaped by his own experience. He is totally entitled to express it; Democracy allows that. Never mind the American psyche about "dysfunctional Ireland" the Irish psyche is worrying enough to be getting on with
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Posted by manhattan on Dec 28, 2009, 02:26 PM EST
Portia777, who hurt you so much to make you so bitter?
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Posted by manhattan on Dec 28, 2009, 01:46 PM EST
Gabriel Byrne is not only a fine actor but a proud Irishman who always supported Ireland in every way. He also was physically abused by a brother when he was at school. No one who knows the Irish either here in the U.S. or Ireland would ever look down on a whole people for the sins committed by the clergy. My heart goes out to the good priests who have devoted there lives to helping others. We here in Maryland are mourning the rape and death of an 11 yr. old girl on christmas day. The killer is a known pedophile who only did 3 yrs for rape of another child. These sick men will join any thing to be around children. One thing for sure there will never be a coverup in the church again. The days of children not speaking up is over.
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Posted by kickstar on Dec 28, 2009, 12:29 PM EST
I am Irish and I am Gabriel's age and I think you have to be both those things and have been Reared in Ireland to understand what he is saying,From Sunday Mass to Devotions and Benediction on Sunday evening to confessions to the Novenas the Boy Scouts First Communion and Confirmation your Easter Duty etc. The Church was a large and imposing part of your life and then to find out that these people were nothing but chancers is a big shock to the system, Also a lot of us were taught by Brothers in CBS Schools I myself was taught music and English Lit by the Nuns by the very same order who ran the Magdalene Laundries. So Yes I understand exactly what Gabriel eludes too. For very many people the church was their lives and it has been a crushing blow to them, These are truly wonderful and devoted people, For example the ladies who kept the Altar flowers all year and the Choir to the ladies of the Sadality and order of St Joseph etc. So you see what Gabriel is saying in words may sound very flat to you but to us who grew up in Ireland the church was in our lives 7 days a week 365 days a year. And that is what makes me angriest of all that these criminals were the ones who were running the Church and I of course mean the Bishops,He who covers up a crime is just as culpable as he who is the offender, So Martin Drennan Just go away your services are no longer required.
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Posted by sallyorob on Dec 28, 2009, 11:49 AM EST
Gabriel Byrne is a public figure and his opinions are aired world-wide. I am not and mine are not, but I'm not sure he can speak for all Americans. We have had our own sexual abuse scandals by priests and ministers, both Protestant and Catholic, and they don't define us as a people. The abuse scandals in Ireland do not represent the Irish as a people. Any American who has ever been to Ireland -- and there are quite a few of us! -- knows the Irish people are, for the most part, a warm, lovely people with amazing courage and integrity. It sounds as though Mr. Byrne as some unresolved issues of his own.
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Posted by irishmexican43 on Dec 28, 2009, 11:07 AM EST
The article on Gabriel Byrne was very short and the quotes fragmentary. It was hard to know what Gabriel really said. We must remember that Gabriel revealed years ago that he was a victim of that same religious abuse in Ireland. We are many. Allow me to remind us that sexual abuse is an abuse of POWER and the clergy in Ireland had/has too much power. It is confusing to think that the followers of Jesus -who renounced power- have become so powerful and then used this power to abuse the powerless.
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Posted by Portia777 on Dec 28, 2009, 11:01 AM EST
Gabriel Byrne is a real man of honour and of course he is hurt, being labelled in the same flock of sheep -Roman Catholic cult. It makes all of us think now finally- who exactly is this God that the men of God preach about and that we were expected to follow blindly.? We do not need the deceptive intelligence of men of God trying to convince us that wrong is right- for that is what has happened and is happening.
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Posted by Portia777 on Dec 28, 2009, 10:49 AM EST
"He said the Taliban are a horrific group of people and it sounded like I was raised like that." Well, not much difference though- same treatment for women and children. Same brainwashing techniques. Same cult agenda to keep people under its patriarchal control. I sure am glad the world now sees what Ireland of the welcomes is really like. Sure come to Dublin city for a welcome, but venture out to the sticks and there you will see the racism still. After all I was brought to court for allowing my children to associate with those alien barbarian Buddhists. The courts are all held in secret, gagging orders still issued by judges, lest the people learn the truth. So, looking at the above truth- what has changed??
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Posted by chesapeake on Dec 28, 2009, 10:04 AM EST
If the Catholic Church can clean up their act - which will probably include a revised criteria for the clergy (married priests or widowers who have experienced life) - the Chuch recover. The present-day anti-Christian attitudes must also be disproved. Incidentally, the opinions of American actors are generally worthless - Irish or not! Christianity has been around for over 2000 years and will be here for thousands more.
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Posted by mrkennedy on Dec 28, 2009, 09:05 AM EST
If Gabriel Byrne thinks Irelands Bishops sex cover up is bad do research on the American Cardinals and Bishops cover up. Ireland is nothing in comparison!!
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Posted by Sweeneyastray on Dec 28, 2009, 09:01 AM EST
The charm of Ireland and the Irish people prevail. The courage of the Irish is evident in their determination to right the wrongs of the past. Ireland remains enchanting and timeless. As long as there is an Ireland, we will come to visit.
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Posted by irelandlvr on Dec 28, 2009, 08:54 AM EST
I finally made it to Ireland in my 60th year. And believe me after dreaming of it for 52 years, nothing could have spoiled it for me. I think most of us in the US are aware of the rampant pedophilia in the Catholic Church and certainly are intelligent enough to not blame Ireland! I have loved Gabriel Byrne for years, and I'm sorry he was hurt by stupid comments! We have the same problems in our Catholic Churches, it's not a reflection on the country, only the church. I can't wait to come back to your beautiful country and hope to one day find a way to live there. My heart is still full from my wonderful visit!
 


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