Sunday, December 19, 2010

Probe into gardai's handling of abuse

GARDAI say allegations that members of the force failed to adequately react to instances of clerical sex abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese are being investigated.

Senior officers made the comments after two unnamed gardai were heavily criticised by the Commission of Inquiry for failing to follow through on concerns they had about notorious paedophile priest Tony Walsh.

A team of around 10 detectives is examining whether bishops, gardai and state officials have criminal cases to answer arising from the Murphy Report.

"Any issues regarding the conduct of gardai are being looked at by the investigation team," a garda source said.

The report said two gardai who had concerns about Walsh in 1990 and 1992 failed to pursue a thorough criminal investigation.

It found that when a criminal investigation did get under way in 1991, it was effectively shelved because the Catholic Church was carrying out its own penal process.

However, subsequent investigations were handled correctly.

SIC: II/IE