logo
Spiritans commit to redress scheme for school abuse survivors in attempt to ‘offer atonement'

Spiritans commit to redress scheme for school abuse survivors in attempt to ‘offer atonement'

Irish Times16-06-2025
The head of the religious congregation behind
Blackrock College
and other prominent schools has made a public commitment to paying redress to survivors of
abuse
in the schools.
In an open letter to survivors of abuse by members and employees of the
Spiritan
congregation, Provincial Fr Brendan Carr announced 'a restorative framework which we hope can help all to arrive at a different place in this painful and difficult journey'.
This, he said, was prepared 'with the help of Restore Together, One Voice, and other significant advocates and individuals who were abused in our schools and other contexts, who have engaged directly with us'.
It 'acknowledges the abuses, failures and omissions of the past, refocuses on the present needs of those who suffered and those carrying pain and allows all to look to and find peace and a different and better future where humanly possible'.
READ MORE
The Spiritans, he said, had established a 'finance advisory team, with the expertise to lead a strategic restructuring of the Province's assets'. It would 'fast-track the development of sustainable funding streams, including immediate and medium-term provisions for redress'.
By last November, 359 survivors of abuse at Spiritan schools had come forward, including the 347 disclosed in the scoping inquiry report on abuse at private fee-paying schools published last September.
[
Spiritans accused of putting own interests before those of abuse victims
Opens in new window
]
In the past when it came to redress, Fr Carr said, the congregation 'engaged through what we understood to be the standard mechanism available – legal negotiations conducted between legal representatives for the Spiritans and the persons making the legal claims'.
He acknowledged this 'was not an adequate response for those seeking safe and healing space for victims/survivors'.
'Advocates and victim-led representations have taught us that a different redress scheme was needed – one that was victim-centred, less adversarial and faster.'
He added that, notwithstanding the expected Government commission of investigation into abuse in schools and its pledge of redress for survivors, 'we Spiritans believe we have a moral and collective obligation to respond to and offer atonement' to those 'whose lives were severely impacted'.
The agreed framework contains four elements which, as well as redress, offers survivors meetings with Spiritan representatives who would acknowledge what happened and apologise, as well as therapy and counselling, and a commitment to memorialise both the suffering of survivors and atonement by Spiritans.
[
Spiritans have paid €8.8m in settlements to 125 abuse survivors since 1998
Opens in new window
]
Fr Carr said the redress scheme was 'but one part of our sincere endeavour and commitment to be accountable at this time for what happened in another time'.
'Child sexual abuse is a devastating crime. It shatters the lives of victims and causes deep and lasting harm to families and friends,' he said, adding that such abuse 'also profoundly affects school communities'.
'I want to publicly acknowledge this impact and offer apology and empathy to the current principals, staff, students and parents of Spiritan schools,' he said.
'Too often, you have found yourselves having to respond to situations in which you had no involvement and over which you had no control. I, of course, extend this apology to the volunteers and employees of SET [Spiritan Education Trust], the body that runs Spiritan schools.'
It was his 'sincere hope', Fr Carr said, that by the end of the summer he could 'provide a further, more detailed update of the progress we are making in forging new paths to create a just redress scheme'.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Galway farmer granted permission to challenge Greenway purchase decision ‘splitting' his farm
Galway farmer granted permission to challenge Greenway purchase decision ‘splitting' his farm

Irish Times

time14 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Galway farmer granted permission to challenge Greenway purchase decision ‘splitting' his farm

A Galway farmer has been granted permission to challenge a compulsory purchase order (CPO) made by An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) to construct a cycleway that he says would run across his land and 'split' his farm. He has claimed the route built under the Connemara Greenway Project would make his farmlands – in his family since the 1940s – 'unmanageable and landlocked'. At the High Court, lawyers for Oliver Joyce, of Emloughmore, Clifden, Co Galway, successfully applied to Ms Justice Emily Farrell to challenge the ACP's decision to grant a May 2025 compulsory purchase order (CPO) to Galway County Council relating to lands he owns at Doireliagh, Doireclunlaigh, Clifden, in Co Galway. The project aims to install a cycle and walkway going from Galway city to Clifden over 76km (47 miles) that would go through 'the backbone' of Mr Joyce's property along the old Galway-to-Clifden railway line, he claimed. READ MORE Mr Oliver has taken the challenge against ACP's decision to approve the compulsory acquisition, with Galway County Council named as a notice party. In court papers, Mr Oliver said he was conscious that his farmlands were located in a 'highly sensitive environment', which includes marshland and hilled areas that form part of the Connemara Bog Complex SAC, a conservation area. The plaintiff submitted the practice of farming the lands through generations of his family was done 'in perfect symmetry with the environment' and that he is 'very passionate and concerned about this'. Mr Oliver claimed that when the project was first proposed by the council, it was to be carried out on a permissive basis such that the council would be facilitated in accessing the lands, but the lands would remain in his ownership and open so stock could travel across both sides of the farm. He submitted that his lands have a mix of soil types and this variety was essential, in that each part is integrated and grazed with the marshy area providing water during dry periods and the hilly areas providing respite during inclement weather conditions. Mr Oliver said the project, as approved by the granting, was different from the original, in that it now envisages a wider walk and cycleway. He submitted that he was assured by the council that the lands would remain open for stock to travel and that any fencing would only be constructed when they were required by the landowner and that the application to ACP was one based on his permission. Mr Oliver claimed he understood the project to initially comprise of a 2.5m-wide (8.2ft) 'informal track of a type that one would see in the countryside', but that the more recent, larger scheme now involved a 3.5m-wide (11.5ft) asphalt track with full fencing involving 'sheep wire and barbed wire'. The plaintiff said he was 'shocked' that after an initial agreement on the scheme, Galway County Council then said they would 'accept nothing less than full ownership' and sought the CPO. Mr Oliver argued that the 'fundamental basis of the scheme has been turned on its head' by the CPO and that the decision to do so was 'taken without cause or justification'. He further claimed that environmental assessments carried out and submitted to ACP related to the original scheme and that the new elements that arose in the CPO scheme were not previously considered for environmental impact. Ms Justice Farrell granted leave for the judicial review to Michael O'Donnell BL, instructed by Harrington & Co solicitors – for Mr Oliver – and adjourned the matter to September.

Rare and endangered okapi ‘forest giraffe' is born at Dublin Zoo
Rare and endangered okapi ‘forest giraffe' is born at Dublin Zoo

Irish Times

time20 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Rare and endangered okapi ‘forest giraffe' is born at Dublin Zoo

A rare and endangered 'forest giraffe' born on Good Friday has been thriving, Dublin Zoo has said. This is the third calf of its kind – one of the few members of the okapi species – to be born in Ireland. The yet-to-be-named calf has two siblings in Dublin Zoo, Dalia and Leki, all born to mother Lumara and father Kitabu. Their names reflect the species' origins in the dense forests of the northeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where they are listed as endangered due to 'habitat loss, hunting, deforestation and civil unrest' in the region, Dublin Zoo said. READ MORE Historically, deforestation in the region was relatively low, with 3,100sq km (1,200sq miles) of forest being lost annually, but from 2015 to 2019 the rate of tree-felling in the DRC doubled, meaning a major loss in vegetation for the species. The DRC has suffered from political instability for years, with rebel groups often igniting conflicts across the region. Since her birth, the calf 'has been growing steadily and showing all the signs of good health', zoo officials said. She has spent her first months in the family's nest and has been 'under the attentive care of her mother', they said. This is typical for the infant calves of the okapi species, their handlers said. Zoo goers exploring the African Plains area of the Phoenix Park attraction 'may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her in the coming days, and see just how much she has grown', Dublin Zoo team leader Helen Clarke said. The family's habitat is near the northeastern African cheetahs and not far from the Asian elephants in Dublin Zoo. The zoo has supported conservation efforts of the species since 2012 with financial support to rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are about 15,000 to 50,000 okapi in the world.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store