CHILD SEX abuse allegations have been made against nine previously unnamed priests in Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese since the publication of the Murphy report in November 2009, and suspicions regarding a further two priests have been reported.
The Murphy commission investigated the handling of clerical child sex abuse allegations by church and State authorities, involving a sample 46 out of 102 accused priests who came within the remit of the Murphy commission and against whom such allegations were made between January 1st, 1975, and April 30th, 2004.
None of the nine priests now facing allegations had previously been on the records of the archdiocese, the director of its Child Safeguarding and Protection Service, Andrew Fagan, said last night.
He was speaking at Clonliffe College in Dublin, where Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin and staff of the protection service’s office launched the diocesan policy for child safeguarding and protecting children.
It has been welcomed by Dublin abuse victim Andrew Madden, who noted: “It is practice in the Dublin archdiocese to report all child protection concerns to the HSE and An Garda Síochána.” He said “nothing short of this standard is acceptable from any diocese in the country”.
At yesterday’s press conference, Mr Fagan said that since publication of the Murphy report 50 people had come forward with new allegations of sexual abuse against 20 priests, nine of whom had not been accused before.
Some of the nine were out of ministry, he said, while investigations were taking place to establish whether allegations were sustainable in other cases. The archdiocese knew of 570 people abused by priests and it expected more such people would come forward, he said.
Dr Martin said there had been an allegation against one priest since he assumed office in 2004, and this man was out of ministry. But, he said “there may be others”. He warned against complacency on protecting children. Mr Fagan gave a similar warning, adding: “We commit ourselves to a process of continuous evaluation and improvement, paying close attention to feedback we receive from those who use our service.”
Statistics provided by the archdiocese pointed out that 2,500 volunteers in its parishes had taken part in programmes safeguarding children, with more than 17,000 people, including priests, vetted for child protection purposes by the Garda.
The archdiocese has paid out €13.5 million in settlements regarding abuse, and €4.2 million in legal costs. In total, 172 civil actions have been taken against 44 priests of the archdiocese, with 117 concluded and 55 ongoing. Ninety-three of the archdiocese’s priests have faced allegations of child sex abuse going back to 1940, with suspicions raised over a further 11.
There have also been allegations against 60 priests from other dioceses or religious congregations serving in Dublin, with allegations also against nine priest members of religious congregations working temporarily in Dublin.
Suspicions have been raised over a further four priest members of religious congregations who held appointments in Dublin.
Ten priests or former priests in Dublin have been convicted or face conviction. Two non-diocesan priests who served in Dublin have also been convicted.
In total, allegations and suspicions have been raised against 177 priests who served in Dublin over the 70 years from 1940 to 2010. Over that period about 2,800 priests held appointments in the archdiocese, with a “significant” number doing supply work.
