THE REPORT of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse is to be presented to the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern next Tuesday.
The report will name 15 priests, 11 who have been convicted in the courts and four who are already well known. Set up in March 2006, the commission has investigated how child sex abuse allegations against a representative sample of 46 priests was handled by 19 bishops in Dublin between January 1st, 1975, and April 30th, 2004.
The focus of the report is on a power culture centred on the bishops and how this influenced their handling of allegations.
It is thought likely that Mr Ahern will refer the report to Attorney General Paul Gallagher, as it deals with three men currently before the courts. However, two of those men have served sentences in connection with child abuse, while the third has pleaded guilty to the latest charges against him, although a further allegation has emerged since then.
The earliest date set for the trial of any of the men is April 2010.
It is possible the Attorney General may decide to publish the report in full, and soon, with the three relevant men given pseudonyms.
Of the 19 bishops investigated, seven are deceased. The 19 include four archbishops of Dublin – Most Rev John Charles McQuaid, Most Rev Dermot Ryan, Most Rev Kevin McNamara and Cardinal Desmond Connell. Thirteen of the other bishops were or are auxiliary bishops in Dublin. They include Bishop Joseph Carroll (deceased), Bishop Brendan Comiskey (resigned as Bishop of Ferns in 2002), Bishop Martin Drennan (Bishop of Galway), Bishop Patrick Dunne (deceased), Bishop Ray Field (auxiliary Bishop in Dublin), Bishop Laurence Forristal (Bishop of Ossory to 2007).
Also included are Bishop James Kavanagh (deceased), Bishop Jim Moriarty (Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin), Bishop Donal Murray (Bishop of Limerick), Bishop Dermot O’Mahony (retired), Bishop Fiachra Ó Ceallaigh (auxiliary bishop in Dublin), Bishop Eamonn Walsh (auxiliary bishop in Dublin and apostolic administrator to Ferns diocese from April 2002 to April 2006), and Bishop Desmond Williams (deceased).
The Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh and Bishop of Dromore John McAreavey sat on an internal tribunal in Dublin to investigate abuse allegations against one priest.
