Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Decision to publish a relief to victims, says group

VICTIM advocacy group One in Four has welcomed the decision by Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns to publish the commission’s investigation into allegations of abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne.

The group’s executive director Maeve Lewis said it was "unfortunate", yet understandable, that one chapter of the report had to be held back. 

The handling of abuse complaints by up to 19 clerics was examined by the commission.

"The decision will come as a relief to the people who were sexually abused, many of whom have been waiting for years to learn how it was that so many allegations were mishandled.

"Very few survivors of child sexual abuse engage with the criminal justice system. It is important that the cases which come before the courts are not jeopardised in any way.

"However, we are concerned that the omission of certain sections may undermine the integrity of the report and may also mean that the full picture of how children were endangered in the Cloyne diocese will not emerge."

One clerical abuse victim in the diocese said she was "obviously pleased to see the report coming out" and she hoped "that the public at large will be as appalled and disgusted as we were at how the diocese dealt with complaints about young children being abused".

Legal teams will now have to decide what "deletions are necessary to the 26-chapter report to give effect to the judge’s order", according to Justice Minister Alan Shatter. 

Once these legal obstacles have been overcome, the minister and his colleague Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald say they will have the report published "as soon as practicable".

Meanwhile, the HSE is to report to the minister setting out the findings of a national audit of child protection practices in each of the 26 Catholic dioceses. 

A third audit of the religious orders is also under way.