SNAP (SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS)
The group at the centre of the recent Oscar winning film, Spotlight have today issued a statement in support of our motion to have the Artane Band disbanded. www.snapnetwork.org/
Barbara Blaine, the founder and president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an international advocacy group for survivors of clerical sexual abuse, has come out in support of a campaign to have the Artane School of Music disbanded.
SNAP is supporting a motion by Dublin councillor Mannix Flynn for the disbandment of the music school, an establishment jointly run by the Christian Brothers and the GAA. The band in its current form wear the original and traditional insignia and uniforms worn by the band from when it started at a time when children attending St Joseph’s Industrial School in Artane were subjected to sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the religious.
Speaking from Chicago in support of councillor Flynn, Blaine said: “I believe that so much suffering and pain has been caused to those who lived through the horrors of the industrial school in Artane. They have been through enough. We should be doing all we can to prevent any further pain and suffering.”
Mannix Flynn 
While the boys playing in the band are fine upstanding young musicians.. The brand Artane Boys Band is tainted by the sins of the Christian Brothers. This Charity should be disbanded and reformed under a new brand in every way to distance itself from a culture of cruelty and sexual abuse committed by the original founders.in our shameful past. This does not mean punishing these young musicians but extolling their right to a just society for all. Keep up the good work Mannix.in upholding the truth.. A pity the GAA does not follow your example. The nuns were forced to act now is time for the Brothers.
Grainne Kenny (Dun Laoghaire).