I wish to express my absolute horror at the report in today’s Irish Examiner that a statement taken from someone detailing allegations of child sexual abuse by a Catholic priest may have been passed from the Child Protection Delegate in the Diocese of Cloyne to the accused priest. At the very least such an act would represent an appalling act of betrayal of the trust any alleged victim would show in bringing allegations to the attention of any Diocese in the first place.
I am pleased to learn that this allegation has been brought to the attention of the ongoing Commission of Investigation as this is a body in which I have an enormous amount of respect and trust.
I would like to take the opportunity to urge any victims of child sexual abuse by priests to seek legal advice from appropriate sources and/or support from organisations such as OneInFour rather than bring allegations to the attention of any Diocese on their own.
END 25/06/10
Friday, June 25, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
CHILDREN FIRST
Within the last week -
Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan reminded us yet again that the HSE was failing to properly implement the State’s Children First Guidelines.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin reminded us that strong forces within the Catholic Church still did not want the truth about the cover up of the sexual abuse of children by priests to emerge and added that there are worrying signs that despite solid regulations and norms these are not being followed throughout the Church with the rigour required.
This morning Ian Elliott of The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) within the Catholic Church reported that within some areas of the church the commitment to put the safety of children before any other considerations has been tempered by a mistaken belief that it is possible to continue with past and familiar practices. This he said has led to a reliance on a defensive legal response when complaints emerge rather than a focus on safeguarding concerns and the elimination of risk to other vulnerable young people.
And on Friday last we were treated to the sight of Minister for Children Barry Andrews defend the failure of schools to properly implement Stay Safe & SPHE programmes in schools because such schools were entitled to their religious ethos.
This failure to advance the safety, welfare and protection of children is unforgiveable given what we have learned from the publication of the Ferns, Ryan and Murphy Reports and the Reports into the deaths of Tracey Fay and David Foley.
Part of the solution to the failures these Reports expose is the placing of Children First on a statutory basis and properly enshrining the rights of children into the Constitution. I repeat my call for the Government to advance this work as a matter of urgency – its continued failure to do so to date is an absolute disgrace.
END - 17/05/2010
Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan reminded us yet again that the HSE was failing to properly implement the State’s Children First Guidelines.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin reminded us that strong forces within the Catholic Church still did not want the truth about the cover up of the sexual abuse of children by priests to emerge and added that there are worrying signs that despite solid regulations and norms these are not being followed throughout the Church with the rigour required.
This morning Ian Elliott of The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) within the Catholic Church reported that within some areas of the church the commitment to put the safety of children before any other considerations has been tempered by a mistaken belief that it is possible to continue with past and familiar practices. This he said has led to a reliance on a defensive legal response when complaints emerge rather than a focus on safeguarding concerns and the elimination of risk to other vulnerable young people.
And on Friday last we were treated to the sight of Minister for Children Barry Andrews defend the failure of schools to properly implement Stay Safe & SPHE programmes in schools because such schools were entitled to their religious ethos.
This failure to advance the safety, welfare and protection of children is unforgiveable given what we have learned from the publication of the Ferns, Ryan and Murphy Reports and the Reports into the deaths of Tracey Fay and David Foley.
Part of the solution to the failures these Reports expose is the placing of Children First on a statutory basis and properly enshrining the rights of children into the Constitution. I repeat my call for the Government to advance this work as a matter of urgency – its continued failure to do so to date is an absolute disgrace.
END - 17/05/2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
CHILDREN FIRST
I wish to express my welcome for today’s report by the Office of the Ombudsman for Children into the implementation of Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children. I have long been of the view that the Children First Guidelines need to be put on a full statutory basis and the concerns raised in the Ombudsman’s Report reinforce for me the need for that course of action to be taken as a matter of absolute urgency.
Despite so many Reports in the last 12 months detailing our failure to protect children in this country we have had 2 revelations in the last 24 hours about failures to follow child protection guidelines.
Today the Children’s Ombudsman stated that insufficient efforts were made to drive forward implementation of Children First by the HSE internally and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin stated last night that within the Catholic Church there are worrying signs that despite solid regulations and norms these are not being followed with the rigour required.
It is imperative that the current Government respond to these continued failures by placing Children First on a statutory basis as a matter of urgency.
END - 11/05/2010
Despite so many Reports in the last 12 months detailing our failure to protect children in this country we have had 2 revelations in the last 24 hours about failures to follow child protection guidelines.
Today the Children’s Ombudsman stated that insufficient efforts were made to drive forward implementation of Children First by the HSE internally and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin stated last night that within the Catholic Church there are worrying signs that despite solid regulations and norms these are not being followed with the rigour required.
It is imperative that the current Government respond to these continued failures by placing Children First on a statutory basis as a matter of urgency.
END - 11/05/2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
BISHOP MORIARTY
I welcome the announcement of the acceptance of the resignation of Bishop James Moriarty by Pope Benedict. Bishop Moriarty was a Bishop in the Archdiocese of Dublin during a time when the Commission of Investigation found that the sexual abuse of children by priests was covered up by the Archdiocese and other Church authorities and so it is only fitting that anyone who was part of the governance of the Archdiocese at that time should step aside following such findings.
I am very grateful to Bishop Moriarty for the content and tone of his resignation statement today. Bishop Moriarty acknowledges that he should have challenged the prevailing culture that existed within the Archdiocese and apologises for failing to do so, this is very welcome.
His acknowledgement that ‘the long struggle of survivors to be heard and respected by church authorities has revealed a culture within the Church that many would simply describe as unchristian’ is also very welcome - and compares very favourably to Bishop Drennan calling survivors vengeful and Cardinal Brady trying to pass himself off as a wounded healer.
END - 22/04/2010
I am very grateful to Bishop Moriarty for the content and tone of his resignation statement today. Bishop Moriarty acknowledges that he should have challenged the prevailing culture that existed within the Archdiocese and apologises for failing to do so, this is very welcome.
His acknowledgement that ‘the long struggle of survivors to be heard and respected by church authorities has revealed a culture within the Church that many would simply describe as unchristian’ is also very welcome - and compares very favourably to Bishop Drennan calling survivors vengeful and Cardinal Brady trying to pass himself off as a wounded healer.
END - 22/04/2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Cardinal Bertone
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone has stated at a press conference in Chile that there is a relationship between paedophilia and homosexuality. This is not the first time the Catholic Church has attempted to blame a small and marginalised section of society for the actions of priests who sexually abused young boys and girls and the bishops who covered up for them.
Nor is it the first time we have seen members of the Catholic Hierarchy misrepresent to the public, the views of the medical profession. For many years members of the Catholic Hierarchy claimed that they only reassigned priests who had abused children on receipt of medical advice to the effect that it was safe to do so; the Ferns, Murphy, Philadelphia Boston Reports and others, show that claim to be untrue.
My advice is that the medical profession does distinguish between pre and post pubescent paedophilia and refers to the latter as regressive paedophilia which is widely considered to me more treatable.
As someone who was sexually abused as a child and who is a gay man today, I condemn any attempts by the Catholic Church to dishonestly misrepresent medical opinion in order to continue to avoid taking responsibility for its own actions and inactions in covering up the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests.
END - 13/04/2010
Nor is it the first time we have seen members of the Catholic Hierarchy misrepresent to the public, the views of the medical profession. For many years members of the Catholic Hierarchy claimed that they only reassigned priests who had abused children on receipt of medical advice to the effect that it was safe to do so; the Ferns, Murphy, Philadelphia Boston Reports and others, show that claim to be untrue.
My advice is that the medical profession does distinguish between pre and post pubescent paedophilia and refers to the latter as regressive paedophilia which is widely considered to me more treatable.
As someone who was sexually abused as a child and who is a gay man today, I condemn any attempts by the Catholic Church to dishonestly misrepresent medical opinion in order to continue to avoid taking responsibility for its own actions and inactions in covering up the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests.
END - 13/04/2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
SPEECH TO FINE GAEL CONF 20 03 10
Good afternoon....etc...
Thank you for the opportunity to come and speak this afternoon....etc..
I have been asked recently, am I finished my campaigning? Now that the Murphy Report has been published .........am I finished?
One in five children in the care of the State does not have a social worker.
Hundreds of children in the care of the State have gone missing.
Thousands of children live in poverty.
The HSE fails its statutory obligations to children every day.
Many children leaving the care of the State quickly become homeless.
It is a criminal offence to fail to have a television licence.... but not to fail to report the abuse or neglect of a child.
Since the HSE was formed it has not published a single report into the death of a child in its care........though there have been over twenty such deaths.
And a Catholic Church which covered up the rape and sexual abuse of children for decades in this country enjoys major involvement in our national school system.... a school system in which the current government claims it has no responsibility for the safety of children.
Am I finished now that the Murphy Report has been published? No ....I’m not finished .... and I hope you’re not either....
The next Government has a huge job of work to do in order to advance the safety, welfare and protection of children. In health, in education and in the care of the state, children have been failed appallingly for many years.
The Children First Guidelines need to put on a statutory basis as a matter of urgency - the current Government’s plans do not go far enough in this regard and the promise to have legislation drafted by the end of this year does not demonstrate an appreciation of the need to enhance child protection measures now.
It is imperative too, that the rights of children are more properly protected in the Constitution, it is deplorable that the current Government cannot even guarantee to a hold referendum by the end of this year.
The monitoring and support of convicted sex offenders in Ireland is almost non-existent. Sex offenders who have served their sentences are generally released into the community without supervision, though some may be under the supervision of the Probation and Welfare Service. The requirements of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 do not mean that there is any real supervision. ... and that’s not just my view, they are the words of Judge Yvonne Murphy in the Murphy Report.
There is an urgent need for changes to this system to be made ...
· Firstly, there is no actual sex offenders’ register. Released offenders simply notify the Gardai of their intended residential address. A multi-agency approach to the support and monitoring of released offenders must be developed along with a more stringent regime of signing on procedures with regular personal visits to Garda stations by released offenders.
· Secondly, those responsible for monitoring sex offenders should have the powers and the resources to make regular unannounced visits to the homes of released sex offenders.
· Thirdly, monitoring of sex offenders should include polygraph testing, electronic tagging, curfews and other restrictions, for example an offender who only ever abuses children after he/she has taken alcohol should have it as a condition of their release that they don’t consume alcohol.
· Fourthly, parents and Guardians should be able to register a concern with authorities about any individual who has access to their children about whom they are genuinely worried .......and in some cases it should be possible for them to be told if such an individual is a known sex offender or not. This measure is already being rolled out in the UK, having being piloted to great effect over the last eighteen months.... the pilot scheme in four counties saw one in ten calls to police uncover evidence of a criminal past. Out of 315 applications for information from concerned parents, details of 21 paedophiles were revealed.... these were sex offenders known to the authorities who were putting themselves in a position of having access to children again, and they were stopped because those parents could register their concerns and access this information.
· Finally, It is not appropriate to offer shorter sentences to offenders who participate in treatment programmes in prison, as the current Justice Minister has proposed – those who don’t participate voluntarily should be considered very high risk on release and should be monitored accordingly.
With regard to Garda Vetting - There is urgent need for Garda Vetting of people working with children to be extended to facilitate the passing on of soft information, organisations working with or providing services to children have called for this to be done for many years but to no avail.
And then there’s the HSE..... its inability to work in its current structure is plain for all to see..........the safety, welfare and protection of children must no longer be left in the hands of an organisation so obviously unfit for purpose. A new Department of Children, with a Minister who knows what he or she is doing, is a must for any new Government interested in seriously addressing the current broken system.
EMPOWERING CHILDREN with knowledge, confidence and language is an important part of the child protection process. The STAY SAFE and SPHE programmes within schools are a significant part of this.
· All teachers should receive a basic SPHE pre-service training as all teachers are involved in social and personal education of young people.
· There should be a module in the SPHE programme dedicated specifically to Child Safety, Welfare and Protection at post-primary level.
· Children’s knowledge of SPHE should be assessed regularly.
For how much longer must children wait for these and other child protection measures to be implemented? What more must happen before Government is persuaded of the need to radically enhance measures which are meant to lend themselves to the safety, welfare and protection of children in this country? If the next Government continues this Government’s failures, then we will listen to many more harrowing accounts well into the future as today’s and tomorrow’s children ask ..... why was I not protected by you?....................I urge you not to let that happen.....!!
Thank you for the opportunity to come and speak this afternoon....etc..
I have been asked recently, am I finished my campaigning? Now that the Murphy Report has been published .........am I finished?
One in five children in the care of the State does not have a social worker.
Hundreds of children in the care of the State have gone missing.
Thousands of children live in poverty.
The HSE fails its statutory obligations to children every day.
Many children leaving the care of the State quickly become homeless.
It is a criminal offence to fail to have a television licence.... but not to fail to report the abuse or neglect of a child.
Since the HSE was formed it has not published a single report into the death of a child in its care........though there have been over twenty such deaths.
And a Catholic Church which covered up the rape and sexual abuse of children for decades in this country enjoys major involvement in our national school system.... a school system in which the current government claims it has no responsibility for the safety of children.
Am I finished now that the Murphy Report has been published? No ....I’m not finished .... and I hope you’re not either....
The next Government has a huge job of work to do in order to advance the safety, welfare and protection of children. In health, in education and in the care of the state, children have been failed appallingly for many years.
The Children First Guidelines need to put on a statutory basis as a matter of urgency - the current Government’s plans do not go far enough in this regard and the promise to have legislation drafted by the end of this year does not demonstrate an appreciation of the need to enhance child protection measures now.
It is imperative too, that the rights of children are more properly protected in the Constitution, it is deplorable that the current Government cannot even guarantee to a hold referendum by the end of this year.
The monitoring and support of convicted sex offenders in Ireland is almost non-existent. Sex offenders who have served their sentences are generally released into the community without supervision, though some may be under the supervision of the Probation and Welfare Service. The requirements of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 do not mean that there is any real supervision. ... and that’s not just my view, they are the words of Judge Yvonne Murphy in the Murphy Report.
There is an urgent need for changes to this system to be made ...
· Firstly, there is no actual sex offenders’ register. Released offenders simply notify the Gardai of their intended residential address. A multi-agency approach to the support and monitoring of released offenders must be developed along with a more stringent regime of signing on procedures with regular personal visits to Garda stations by released offenders.
· Secondly, those responsible for monitoring sex offenders should have the powers and the resources to make regular unannounced visits to the homes of released sex offenders.
· Thirdly, monitoring of sex offenders should include polygraph testing, electronic tagging, curfews and other restrictions, for example an offender who only ever abuses children after he/she has taken alcohol should have it as a condition of their release that they don’t consume alcohol.
· Fourthly, parents and Guardians should be able to register a concern with authorities about any individual who has access to their children about whom they are genuinely worried .......and in some cases it should be possible for them to be told if such an individual is a known sex offender or not. This measure is already being rolled out in the UK, having being piloted to great effect over the last eighteen months.... the pilot scheme in four counties saw one in ten calls to police uncover evidence of a criminal past. Out of 315 applications for information from concerned parents, details of 21 paedophiles were revealed.... these were sex offenders known to the authorities who were putting themselves in a position of having access to children again, and they were stopped because those parents could register their concerns and access this information.
· Finally, It is not appropriate to offer shorter sentences to offenders who participate in treatment programmes in prison, as the current Justice Minister has proposed – those who don’t participate voluntarily should be considered very high risk on release and should be monitored accordingly.
With regard to Garda Vetting - There is urgent need for Garda Vetting of people working with children to be extended to facilitate the passing on of soft information, organisations working with or providing services to children have called for this to be done for many years but to no avail.
And then there’s the HSE..... its inability to work in its current structure is plain for all to see..........the safety, welfare and protection of children must no longer be left in the hands of an organisation so obviously unfit for purpose. A new Department of Children, with a Minister who knows what he or she is doing, is a must for any new Government interested in seriously addressing the current broken system.
EMPOWERING CHILDREN with knowledge, confidence and language is an important part of the child protection process. The STAY SAFE and SPHE programmes within schools are a significant part of this.
· All teachers should receive a basic SPHE pre-service training as all teachers are involved in social and personal education of young people.
· There should be a module in the SPHE programme dedicated specifically to Child Safety, Welfare and Protection at post-primary level.
· Children’s knowledge of SPHE should be assessed regularly.
For how much longer must children wait for these and other child protection measures to be implemented? What more must happen before Government is persuaded of the need to radically enhance measures which are meant to lend themselves to the safety, welfare and protection of children in this country? If the next Government continues this Government’s failures, then we will listen to many more harrowing accounts well into the future as today’s and tomorrow’s children ask ..... why was I not protected by you?....................I urge you not to let that happen.....!!
PASTORAL LETTER
I have read the ‘Pastoral Letter’ from the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI. The context is of course inappropriate, as by its very definition a pastoral letter is addressed only to practicing Catholics and so ignores many other people who may in some way have been affected by this issue. A pastoral letter is not the way to respond to the Ferns, Ryan & Murphy Reports detailing the rape, abuse and sexual abuse of children by priests and religious in this country and its cover up by Church authorities.
As I had anticipated the letter also fails to address any of the issues raised by myself and others in our open letter to the Pope last month, in advance of the Irish Bishops’ trip to Rome. Our requests were straightforward and easily actionable:
That Pope Benedict, on behalf of the Catholic Church, articulate full acceptance of the findings of the Murphy Report.
That Pope Benedict accept the resignations of Bishops Moriarty, Walshe, and Field without delay.
That Pope Benedict remove Bishop Martin Drennan from office.
That Pope Benedict request the resignations of any other Bishops, who know that their own handling of allegations of child sexual abuse in their own Dioceses, would not stand up to the same scrutiny that the Dioceses of Ferns and Dublin have had e.g. Cardinal Sean Brady...
That Pope Benedict issue all returning Bishops with an expressed instruction to follow all Sate guidelines and protocols as they exist, and as they are further developed, in relation to the safety, welfare and protection of children.
All of this has been ignored, again. There has been no owning of the Catholic Church’s part in causing the sexual abuse of so many children by protecting paedophile priests. Instead Pope Benedict has repeated his apology for the hurt caused to those abused by abused but the Church’s role is referred only as failing to deal with criminal and sinful acts. The Catholic Church did not fail to act – it acted very clearly to protect itself and leave other children to pay the price. Pope Benedict goes on to propose a path of healing, renewal and reparation. It takes a certain level of arrogance to cause the sexual abuse of children and then put yourself forward as part of the healing process.
Over the next few days I can give a more considered response to this letter, but on first reading it has failed to address this issue at all seriously.
As things currently stand, the Catholic Church in Ireland and globally is led by Cardinal Sean Brady and Pope Benedict respectively, both of whom failed to protect children from priests known to them be a danger to children. If the Catholic Church wants to have any credibility moving forward from this point that situation must change.
END - 20/03/2010
As I had anticipated the letter also fails to address any of the issues raised by myself and others in our open letter to the Pope last month, in advance of the Irish Bishops’ trip to Rome. Our requests were straightforward and easily actionable:
That Pope Benedict, on behalf of the Catholic Church, articulate full acceptance of the findings of the Murphy Report.
That Pope Benedict accept the resignations of Bishops Moriarty, Walshe, and Field without delay.
That Pope Benedict remove Bishop Martin Drennan from office.
That Pope Benedict request the resignations of any other Bishops, who know that their own handling of allegations of child sexual abuse in their own Dioceses, would not stand up to the same scrutiny that the Dioceses of Ferns and Dublin have had e.g. Cardinal Sean Brady...
That Pope Benedict issue all returning Bishops with an expressed instruction to follow all Sate guidelines and protocols as they exist, and as they are further developed, in relation to the safety, welfare and protection of children.
All of this has been ignored, again. There has been no owning of the Catholic Church’s part in causing the sexual abuse of so many children by protecting paedophile priests. Instead Pope Benedict has repeated his apology for the hurt caused to those abused by abused but the Church’s role is referred only as failing to deal with criminal and sinful acts. The Catholic Church did not fail to act – it acted very clearly to protect itself and leave other children to pay the price. Pope Benedict goes on to propose a path of healing, renewal and reparation. It takes a certain level of arrogance to cause the sexual abuse of children and then put yourself forward as part of the healing process.
Over the next few days I can give a more considered response to this letter, but on first reading it has failed to address this issue at all seriously.
As things currently stand, the Catholic Church in Ireland and globally is led by Cardinal Sean Brady and Pope Benedict respectively, both of whom failed to protect children from priests known to them be a danger to children. If the Catholic Church wants to have any credibility moving forward from this point that situation must change.
END - 20/03/2010
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