Frank Brehany (Proinséas Mac an Bhreitheamhnaigh)

Christine Buckley was born in Dublin in 1946. But this baby girl had a Nigerian father which in 1940s Ireland was quite unusual. Christine was placed in Goldenbridge Industrial School in Inchicore, run by the Sisters of Mercy, and there she stayed until her teens. Goldenbridge was meant to be a place of safety and care for kids. But like most Industrial Schools it was a prison for innocent children where they suffered hunger, beatings and fear. And any difference, like being a mixed-race child, got you singled out for particular cruelty. Industrial Schools also involved forced child labour. In Goldenbridge girls were made to produce rosary beads in bulk, with punishment waiting for anyone who fell short of the quota. The irony of tarnishing a symbol of love and Gods mother by abusing children forced to manufacture them is a unique evil. After surviving years of incarceration Christine finally was old enough to leave and trained as a nurse and midwife, and spent years bringing other people's babies safely into the world. Like countless other women failed by the state and church they made a career being kinder and more humane to the innocent. In 1992, Christine Buckley told her story (and in doing so the story of countless other victims) on The Late Late Show. And sadly, like so many other tales of injustice told before Irish society was able to accept it, the reaction against her was ferocious. She was doubted, attacked and accused of exaggeration. And some of the doubters were powerful and had obvious self interests. She kept going anyway. The 1996 documentary Dear Daughter put the stories of survivors in front of a national audience, and denial became far harder to sustain. In 1999 the State finally apologised, and the Ryan Report of 2009 confirmed what survivors had said for decades. Christine Buckley founded the Aislinn Centre to support former residents of the institutions and gave hundreds of them something they had rarely had, a room full of people who believed them. She pressed for redress and for the truth to be told in full. She was the recipient of the Irish 'Volunteer of the Year' award in 2009. In December 2012, Trinity College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in recognition of her work for people who were subjected to institutional abuse. She passed away on 11 March 2014, aged 67, having forced a nation to face its past and also created a better future for girls and women in Ireland. christineb.ie/