THE PUBLICATION date of the Cloyne report remained unclear last night, with a spokesman for the Department of Justice unable to say when this was likely.
An expectation that the report, which deals with the handling of clerical child sexual abuse allegations by church and State authorities in the Catholic diocese of Cloyne, was to be published this week ebbed as sources indicated there was disagreement between counsel as to what should be redacted from the report.
It is understood there is disagreement as to how the decision by High Court president Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns last week might be interpreted. He ordered that chapter nine of the report be removed prior to publication, as it deals with a priest currently before the courts.
It is understood that counsel for the accused priest claims he could be identified through other references in the report.
The report must go to Cabinet prior to publication. The next scheduled Cabinet meeting is on Tuesday. However, there is also speculation as to whether such a report ought to be published in Holy Week, which begins tomorrow.
It is also know that various victims’ support groups are concerned about it being published next week as they will be unable to have personnel available to provide helpline services throughout the Easter holiday period.
The Cloyne report follows an investigation by the Murphy commission into the handling of clerical child sexual abuse cases there from January 1st, 1996, to February 1st, 2009 – and the introduction of the Irish Catholic Church’s first guidelines on child protection.
It contains 26 chapters, is approximately 400 pages long, and had included findings on all 19 priests who faced abuse allegations there over the period investigated.
