When Does Privacy become Secrecy?

It baffles me how people can have affairs in Ireland. Not the moral side of things just how exactly do you keep a secret here? The population of this bit of the island was just over 4 million in 2006; you might have heard of the Kevin Bacon Six Degrees of Separation game but here it's more like four or three.

I was out for dinner a few days ago with a group of people and asked one when his brother was heading off to Australia. He looked at me shocked: 'Australia, what? what's going on there?' And it turned out I'd heard the story as established fact but the family weren't yet aware of this plan. Much phone-calling and texting ensued while I tried to remove my foot from my mouth.

A GAA player down in Cork recently came out as gay and the only shock to everyone was that it was considered news because it had been known for years. I still think he was brave to make it offical but keeping something like that a real secret would be impossible here.

Which makes me wonder yet again how the Church and other authorities got away with what they did to children until so very recently? You read about the reports as Catherine has posted here and Public Inquiry here and just wonder ...

When does privacy become secrecy?

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