Do They Think We're Eejits?

Mary Raftery (1957-2012) was a journalist, filmmaker and writer. She produced the 'States of Fear' documentary series, broadcast in 1999, which detailed the shocking abuse suffered by children in reformatory and industrial schools. As a result of her findings the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established in 2000 by the Irish Government; its report was published in May 2009. Her programme 'Cardinal Secrets' was broadcast in 2002. It, in turn, led to the setting up of the Murphy Commission of Investigation into clerical abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese which published its report in 2009. Mary Raftery was prolific journalist and wrote on a wide range of subjects; she contributed a weekly column for The Irish Times between 2003 and 2007 and wrote regular articles and opinion columns until her death in 2012.