A wretched and devastating loss

Editorial Department • Published 16 Dec 2009 09:00

Horrifying. One word that has been on the lips of so many throughout Fermanagh when they think of little Millie Martin.

Every mother and father clutch their own off-spring a little tighter to themselves when they think of the beautiful baby girl and the awful fact that her life ended last week when she was a mere 15 months old.

All through the week people's thoughts have been overtaken by this very young and much-loved child and how their hearts go out to her grieving family who must be bereft and inconsolable after this most wretched and devastating of losses.

That her death took place in our community has been difficult for the people of this area to take in.

That it took place a week after the conclusion of the shocking inquest into the deaths of the McElhill family is devastating. Our community has once again been shaken to its core.

And in the shadow of that inquest, people are more willing to ask questions about the protection of our children in today's society.

It would be completely wrong to suggest that any of the authorities were to blame for Millie's death. It is only the person or persons who carried out any act that would have harmed her in the time before she died who bear that responsibility and it is entirely for the judicial process to decide on that. We do wish to get involved in any comment on that.

Quite validly, people are now more interested than ever in how exactly the agencies that are there to protect our children actually do their work. How do they communicate with each other, do they cross-reference and share all information, how do they manage that information, how do they carry out checks, what is accepted procedure and can any improvements be made? These are just some of the issues people would like to know more about. People want to know exactly what child protection system is in place and how it works so they can satisfy themselves that it is sufficiently robust to deal with the challenges of protecting the most vulnerable in this day and age.

Child protection issues seem to be appearing too often. Indeed, currently before the courts is a 40-year-old woman who is facing 75 charges of wilful assault and neglect of three children.

When professionals are interviewed about issues of child protection, many times the response is that 'child protection is everybody's business'. And it is in precisely that spirit -- that child protection IS everybody's business -- that people are treating with urgency their desire to ask questions and demand answers of just how do our child protection systems work and whether those systems are up to the intensely difficult but vital task of keeping children safe.

And this isn't just about the children of Fermanagh. This is about children living right across Northern Ireland.

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 17 Dec 09

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