A long-awaited report into clerical sex abuse in the Dublin archdiocese has omitted the name of one convicted abuser following legal concerns that it could impact on a case currently before the courts.A spokeswoman for the Dublin Archdiocese Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse said the report is currently being printed.
It will be sent to justice minister Dermot Ahern on Tuesday, although no date has yet been set for its publication.
The Sunday Tribune understands that, following detailed consideration on foot of legal advice, the commission opted not to identify one of the priests it had previously intended to name.
Ahern may also decide, if and when he publishes, not to identify other individuals which the commission names in the final version of the report to be submitted to him.
Ahern had previously stated his intention to publish the report – which Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said will "shock us all" – as soon as possible.
But he will also seek his own legal advice about whether anyone else identified by the commission – which has examined a representative sample of 46 out of 102 priests suspected of abusing children in Dublin between 1974 and 2004 – should not be named.
This is due to possible complications arising from the fact that three of the 46 are currently facing charges before the courts, with the outcome of their cases unlikely to be known before next year at the earliest.
Ahern is also believed to be anxious to avoid a scenario whereby the naming of an individual in the report would prejudice any potential future criminal prosecutions.
But he is not expected to wait until current cases before the courts are concluded before publishing the report.
This means he could decide to provide these men with pseudonyms or even publish the report without including any reference to these three men.
It is understood that the report itself will name at least 15 priests, 11 of whom have been convicted in the courts and four others whose names are already well known.
The 46 priests whose actions were selected for investigation by the commission are understood to have been overseen by a total 19 bishops.
This includes four Dublin archbishops – Most Rev John Charles McQuaid, Most Rev Dermot Ryan, Most Rev Kevin McNamara and Cardinal Desmond Connell – and a further 13 Dublin-based bishops or auxiliary bishops.
Among the other well-known names are Bishop Brendan Comiskey, who resigned as Bishop of Ferns in 2002 amid claims that he had failed to deal adequately with clerical sex-abuse allegations there, Bishop Donal Murray (current bishop of Limerick), Bishop Martin Drennan (current bishop of Galway) and Bishop Eamonn Walsh (current auxiliary bishop in Dublin).
Seven of the bishops investigated by the commission are now deceased.
A spokesman for Ahern said he was awaiting receipt of the report, and would then decide how best to proceed.
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