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RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Commission's complex work spans decades of societal change
The work that lies ahead for the Commission of Investigation into the Handling of Child Sexual Abuse in Schools is significant and complex. Following a wish expressed by many victims/survivors involved in the Scoping Inquiry, the commission will examine the handling of sexual abuse in all types of schools, which means there will be hundreds under consideration. Investigating of every allegation that may be reported to the commission would be difficult within the allotted five-year time frame, which is why there will be a sampling approach. Sampling also occurred during the Murphy Inquiry, which was a commission of investigation into the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin which began in 2006. The original brief was for Judge Yvonne Murphy to report within 18 months, but such was the volume of evidence and allegations concerning the abusive behaviour of a sample batch of 46 priests, it took three years. It's understood that Mr Justice Michael MacGrath and his team of commissioners will determine the sampling method when they have a clearer idea of numbers. The scoping inquiry into allegations of abuse at schools run by religious orders for example found that there were 2,395 allegations of sexual abuse in respect of 308 schools run by religious orders. The allegations were made in respect of 884 distinct alleged abusers between 1927 to 2013. The commission of investigation announced today will consider child sexual abuse during that same time period, however, there's "a realistic limitation" on the ability of the commission to conduct a "meaningful investigation" into incidents occurred long ago. Regardless, it's a significant timespan across decades of huge societal changes in Ireland. Meeting its five-year deadline will not be easy for the commission, which many agree, will require adequate resources. There is considerable concern around the issue of redress and the fact the Government had not pinned this down before it made today's announcement. It said further work is being done to examine the matter of financial redress and how any future scheme could be funded. One in Four's CEO Deirdre Kenny said she was "very concerned" that there was no clarity. She described it as "a missed opportunity" for the Government. "Redress is something that is really important. It's not necessarily about financial support for people, it's about accountability," she said While she acknowledged the complexity of the situation, she said Government needed to move swiftly, be clear with survivors and communicate sooner rather than later. Minister for Education Helen McEntee . She said religious orders and institutions haven't come forward in past redress schemes and if necessary "levers of the State", would be considered to secure funding. What is less clear - and may emerge as "further work" on the question of redress continues - is how much the State will be liable, considering that all schools will be investigated.
Irish Examiner
10-06-2025
- Irish Examiner
Number of historical abuse allegations against Church rise by over 50% in a year
Abuse allegations against the Catholic Church spiked by more than 50% in Ireland last year. Some 385 abuse allegations were made in 2024/2025, up from 252 allegations in the previous reporting period of 2023/2024. 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. Read More Christian Brothers lose bid to have Limerick abuse case dropped against former Brother
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Irish Times
Highest number of abuse allegations in 16 years received by Catholic Church's safeguarding body
The Catholic Church 's safeguarding board received the highest number of abuse allegations in a single year since it began publishing annual reports 16 years ago. There was a 50 per cent increase in the number of new clerical abuse allegations received by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the year to March 31st, according to its latest annual report which has just been published. The board received 385 clerical child abuse allegations in the year compared with 252 in the previous year. The vast majority of the new allegations relate to five decades – 1950s-1990s – with 332 or 86 per cent of the new 385 allegations reported in the year covering those 50 years. READ MORE Just three of the new abuse allegations reported related to the past 25 years, though 47 of the new allegations, or 12 per cent, did not have any definite time frame attributed to them. By contrast, in the report for the previous year to the end of March 2024, the number of clerical child sex abuse allegations increased by just one on the previous year, to 252, compared with 251 in the year to March 2023. The board chief executive Aidan Gordon said the large increase in new allegations related to the scoping inquiry report on abuse at schools that was published last September. He said the increase in allegations received by the board occurred 'predominantly' from September 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 (members of religious orders) and the subsequent media coverage'. 'These events in September 2024 appear to have given individuals renewed strength to tell of their experiences,' he wrote. [ 'Shocking, shocking:' Justice Sean Ryan on the abuses of children uncovered in his report Opens in new window ] 'While this is undoubtedly an extremely difficult undertaking for those who have suffered any type of abuse as a child, it is good to be able to begin to address that trauma and we are grateful for the production of such a comprehensive and far-reaching report by Mary O'Toole SC,' he said, referring to the lawyer who carried out the scoping inquiry. Her report found that almost 2,400 allegations of historical sexual abuse were recorded by 308 schools run by religious orders across Ireland with allegations made against 884 accused. Some 182 survivors spoke to the inquiry about what happened to them over the decades from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. Of the total 385 abuse allegations received by the board up to March 31st last, 338 were made against members of the clergy, with 44 made against diocesan priests. Of the total allegations received, 291 concerned sexual abuse, with 55 relating to physical abuse, while other allegations concerned boundary violations where someone's personal space was invaded, emotional abuse and neglect. The worst decade for newly reported abuse allegations was the 1970s, from which 111 allegations were made. This was followed by the 1980s, which gave rise to 92 allegations, followed by the 1960s with 81 allegations and the 1950s with 34. Fourteen allegations related to incidents from the 1990s, while there were no allegations for the period covering the 2000s. There was just one relating to the 2010s and two in the 2020s to date. The accused clergy in these latest figures number 376, of whom 241 are dead. There were 34 in prison, while 52 had been laicised or were out of ministry. [ Commission on abuse in schools must examine how seminary training formed perpetrators Opens in new window ] Meanwhile, in the wake of the scoping inquiry report last September, a high-level Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) was appointed by the then minister for education Norma Foley to examine its recommendations and to draft terms of reference for a commission of investigation into schools. It is understood the group has reported to the Minister for Education Helen McEntee and she is in consultation with the Attorney General before bringing recommendations to Government on what should happen next.
BreakingNews.ie
01-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
RTÉ Investigates reveals details of two Christian Brothers convicted of child sexual abuse
Details of two Christian Brothers who were senior leaders over the space of two decades, managing the congregation's assets and are now convicted child sexual abusers are revealed in a new RTÉ Investigates documentary. The documentary will air on Thursday night on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. Advertisement Victims' representatives say they are deeply concerned following discoveries by RTÉ Investigates that child abusers inside the religious congregation were at the heart of its leadership, managing its financial and business affairs in recent decades. The hour-long documentary by RTÉ Investigates reporter Rita O'Reilly also examines what the Christian Brothers order owns, how it handled property and school lands. Br Martin O'Flaherty (73) was jailed for historical child sexual abuse in six successive trials over the last three years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court —the latest, last month, when he was sentenced to five years on 15 counts of indecent assault on seven boys at Kilkenny CBS Primary School between 1976 and 1981. O'Flaherty was a senior member of the Christian Brothers' leadership for Ireland, England and Europe in the 12 years from 2002 to 2014. Advertisement He was a founding member of the trustee company that manages the congregation's assets and was a trustee of its English properties until December 2019, over a year after he was formally questioned by gardaí, RTÉ Investigates has discovered. He remains a trustee listed on the deeds of other congregation properties in Ireland, including Christian Brother retained lands at Monkstown CBC, where he was involved in a legal change to the property's deed in 2022, over a year after he was charged with indecent assault. After last year's Scoping Inquiry predicted a vast scale of historical child sexual abuse in Irish schools, and recommended redress for victims, the Christian Brothers stood out, with the largest number of schools and the highest number of allegations. As part of a wide-ranging investigation into Christian Brothers' assets and abusers, RTÉ Investigates has uncovered hundreds of property transactions by trustees who hold assets in trust for the beneficial ownership of the congregation. Advertisement It has established that the Christian Brothers ran a total portfolio of over 800 properties since 1990. Senior Brothers, acting as trustees, held, sold, or transferred the 800 properties on behalf of the congregation over the past 35 years. The Christian Brothers still own at least 270 properties, while the trustees sold or transferred some 530 other properties over those years. Another senior Brother who was part of the leadership and involved in the trusteeship of congregation assets, has also been convicted for historical child sexual abuse. He cannot be named for legal reasons. He controlled a project that received significant monies from a special Children at Risk fund established under the Department of Education as part of the response to revelations of clerical child sexual abuse in the 1990s. Advertisement He was also involved in decisions on the Christian Brothers' approach to civil cases taken by child sexual abuse victims in the courts. Child abuse survivor and victims' advocate, Damian O'Farrell was at the forefront of a campaign in response to the Brothers' leadership's use of legal tactics against victims in the courts. In response to Thursday's findings said: 'Now we know that there was two people in the leadership that have convictions. Were they behind some of that direction, you know, that disdain for victims." To date, the state has funded the bulk of redress for abuse in residential industrial schools - many of them managed by the Christian Brothers - and for limited redress for survivors of Magdalen Laundries. Advertisement Dr James Gallen, Associate Professor at the School of Law & Government in Dublin City University, said the bill for redress for historical child sexual abuse in day and boarding schools is expected to be billions. He cited a Central Statistics Office survey estimating that when a Government-promised Commission of Inquiry is held, 'there might be as much as 41,000 men and women, affected by sexual abuse in day schools.' John Boland, one of a group of victims of a then Christian Brother teacher, Seán Drummond, at Creagh Lane CBS national school in the late 1960s, said that they believe the Christian Brothers 'holds all the power' in the courts. A survivor of Christian Brother abuse and victims' advocate, Damian O'Farrell, who successfully campaigned for the Freedom of Drogheda granted to former Christian Brother leader Br Edmund Garvey in 1997 to be disregarded in 2023, said he believed the Christian Brothers has taken a step backwards since the Ryan Commission report into institutional child sexual abuse. 'They haven't moved, I would say they're worse since the time of the Ryan Report and since the time of the industrial school redress scheme', he said. In response to tonight's RTÉ Investigates, the Christian Brothers said it reiterated '...our apology for the physical and sexual abuse that occurred in many former CBS schools' and stated that they 'cannot comment on individuals, not least as some remain subject to ongoing legal processes'. Watch RTÉ Investigates: Christian Brothers, The Assets, The Abusers on Thursday, May 1st, at 9:35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
