A good woman, ney, a GREAT woman. Who can truly say they changed a Nation? A Church? a Society? This woman did and now she has gone. Dead.
The word is so awful, painful, harrowing and final.
Iknew Mary Raftery, I met her several times, I spoke to her on the phone lots, I admired her, respected her, trusted her and in my sense of defeat (at times) I knew Mary was never defeated and would never be defeated. and she wasn't , at least not in her dogged determination to uncover evil in the Church and State of Ireland. She finished her task, she ran the race and she won.
She changed the face of politics, church and state, of child protection, mental health and so much more.
She could not boil an egg, garden and dressed like a 'streat urchin' (said at her funeral) but she played the cello, wrote plays, directed films, wrote books and was one of the finest investigative journalists Ireland has produced in over 25 years.
she left a son and husband in grief. survivors of abuse lost and alone, a nation changed, a church humiliated, children better protected, secrets outed, and abusers named.
In other words she won. She was not defeated.
But ultimately cancer would defeat her, as it does to oh too many. At 54 she was too young to die. but she died much loved by many. respected by many, and will be remembered by many.
We owe a great deal to Mary Raftery. Never forget her.
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