Tuesday, September 03, 2024

Schools abuse: Almost 2,400 allegations at more than 300 religious-run institutions disclosed to inquiry


A report on allegations of abuse at schools run by religious orders was published on Tuesday.

 The key findings of the report are that:

  • 2,395 allegations of historical sexual abuse at the 308 schools run by religious orders have been disclosed to the Government-appointed inquiry
  • The allegations were made against 884 alleged abusers, the report found
  • It is likely that the actual number of allegations exceeds the stated figure given the level of underreporting of childhood sexual abuse
  • The report found that a high number of allegations are concentrated in special education schools, where there were 590 allegations recorded in 17 institutions involving 190 alleged abusers

In the wake of the report’s publication, the Government has agreed to establish a statutory inquiry into historical abuse at schools.

A total of 185 allegations of abuse were disclosed at Spiritan-run junior and senior schools in Blackrock, Co Dublin to the Government-appointed inquiry into historical abuse at schools across the State.

Some 130 allegations of abuse were disclosed at Willow Park Junior School against 24 alleged abusers, while 55 allegations of abuse were disclosed against 13 alleged abusers at its post-primary counterpart Blackrock College.

These are two of 308 schools named in the report on allegations of abuse at schools run by religious orders, which was published on Tuesday. 

The 700-page report includes a breakdown of 2,395 allegations of historical sexual abuse by school, which can be seen in the tables included elsewhere in our coverage.

Read the piece in full here.