Number of historical abuse allegations against Church rise by over 50% in a year
The 'startling' rise in historical abuse allegations has been linked to last year's publication of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools run by Religious Orders.
It is the highest number of new allegations in any reporting period since the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) began publishing figures annually in 2009.
The figures are published in the NBSCCCI's annual report for 2024 which covers the period from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.
The majority of allegations (291) involve sexual abuse; 55 allegations were of physical abuse, four of boundary violation, one of neglect, one of emotional abuse, one of bullying and 32 cases of alleged abuse for which the type was not provided. In some cases, particularly those relating to sexual abuse, emotional abuse is also noted on the referral form.
The vast majority of the allegations were historical, and relate to the period from 1960 to 1989. 282 of the 385, or 73%, are in this category.
Two or less than 0.5%, relate to the period post-2000. But 47, or 12%, of allegations did not give a definite timeframe.
The 385 allegations were made against 376 respondents, the vast majority of whom were male. Some 64% (241 of the 376 accused) are deceased.
Of the remainder, six were still in ministry, 34 (9%) are in prison, a further 25 (7%) are subject to a management plan while 52 (14%) have either been laicised, left the Church Body or are out of ministry. The status of 26 of the accused was unknown.
Senior Counsel, Mary O'Toole SC led the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools run by Religious Orders. The report runs to more than 700 pages. It followed a series of abuse allegations from the 1960s and 1970s at schools run by religious congregations.
'There has been a significant increase in the number of new allegations notified to the National Board,' said Aidan Gordon, NBSCCCI CEO.
'This increase in notifications was predominantly from September of 2024 and coincided with the release of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools run by Religious and the subsequent media coverage.
These events in September 2024 appear to have given individuals renewed strength to tell of their experiences.
John Boland contributed to that scoping inquiry as one of a group of survivors of a then Christian Brother teacher, Seán Drummond, at Creagh Lane CBS national school in Limerick in the late 1960s.
Mr Boland and many classmates were regularly molested between the ages of six and seven by Drummond in the school. Drummond was a teenager at the time, having entered the Christian Brothers aged 14 and began teaching age 17.
Mr Boland and other former Creagh Lane pupils eventually took their abuser to court, where he admitted indecently assaulting 19 pupils, pleading guilty to 36 charges. Drummond was sentenced to two years in prison in 2009.
Mr Boland believes there are many more people who have never come forward about the abuse they suffered in religious institutions. 'There will be a lot more,' he said. 'I know a lot of people who are reluctant to come forward.
'I'm hearing stories of abuse that are not in the Scoping Inquiry. And the abuse mainly happened to under-privileged kids who had no education and whose parents had no education, who had no one to fight or them.
'What we're hearing about is just the beginning. But a lot of people [who were abused] have passed away now. A lot of those people we will never hear from.'
John Boland contributed to that scoping inquiry as one of a group of survivors of a then Christian Brother teacher, Seán Drummond (pictured), at Creagh Lane CBS national school in Limerick in the late 1960s. File picture: Liam Burke/Press 22
Rachel Morrogh, Chief Executive of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said that the rise in the number of people reporting sexual violence at the hands of clergy "is naturally very upsetting and reflects the deep, lasting and terrible impact of abuse by those in authority, even decades later".
"We hope the increase in people coming forward is a reflection of a community of survivors that is feeling increasingly empowered to speak out.
'This report shows that there are still victims and survivors out there who had not come forward until recently. There must be adequate resources and supports in place for those who need them, and there must be redress for victims and survivors that does not involve adversarial, damaging processes."
Support can be found through the 24 hour Rape Crisis Centre National Helpline on 1800 778888.
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Christian Brothers lose bid to have Limerick abuse case dropped against former Brother
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