States of Fear 1999

TV producer Mary Raftery faced significant opposition when creating the three-part documentary series that provoked a state apology to survivors of industrial schools. States of Fear researcher Sheila Ahern explains further.

On 18 November 1992, Christine Buckley appeared on RTÉ Radio's Gay Byrne Show, where she described being abused in Goldenbridge Industrial School.

Courtesy of RTÉ Archives.

This led in 1996 to the TV documentary Dear Daughter, telling Christine's and other former inmates' stories to the public.

An image from Dear Daughter, courtesy of the Irish Film Institute. Watch the film in the IFI Archive Player.

It was not until 1999, with the broadcast of Mary Raftery's 
three-part States of Fear 
documentary series on RTÉ TV that 
public opinion started to change.

Courtesy of Sheila Ahern and RTÉ Archives.

On 11 May 1999, before the broadcast of States of Fear's third episode, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern offered an official apology to inmates of Ireland's industrial schools 'for our collective failure to intervene, to detect their pain and to come to their rescue'. This is how the episode opened that evening.

Courtesy of Sheila Ahern and RTÉ Archives.
Having been broadcast during prime time, the documentaries led to a state apology and the setting up of a commission to investigate institutional abuse.

States of Fear researcher Sheila Ahern talks about making the series with Mary Raftery.

Why exactly are you relegating these programmes to a poor timeslot? Why have you suddenly decided that primetime is no longer appropriate for them?

Mary Raftery to Joe Mulholland, RTÉ Director General, 1999  

Previous

Our Boys 1981

Director Cathal Black worked with Dermot Healy to create a stinging critique of Christian Brothers' day schools. While critically acclaimed, the film was kept from Irish televisions until 1991. 
Next

Echoes from the Dormitories 2025

Writer Susan Connolly has recently published an autobiography reflecting her childhood experiences of coercive confinement in Goldenbridge Industrial School. The artwork illustrating this panel is also hers. 
Created by the Museum of Literature in Ireland in collaboration with Dr James Little
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Screening Coercive Confinement A Week in the Life of Martin Cluxton (1971) Our Boys (1981) States of Fear (1999) Echoes from the Dormitories (2025) The Asylum Workshop (2023) Asylum Archive (2007–2022) Podcast Credits More Exhibitions Visit MoLI