Investigation to open in Ireland after 2,300 abuse allegations in religious-run schools

Middlesbrough, England, Sep 10, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

The Irish government has promised to set up an official investigation to examine historical abuse in religious-run day and boarding schools in the light of “appalling” abuse accounts.

The announcement comes as an initial 802-page, five-volume Scoping Inquiry report from the Irish government revealed that 2,395 allegations of abuse had been made in 308 schools between 1927 and 2013. The total number of allegations is believed to be far higher. The allegations were made against 884 abusers. It is believed that half of them have died.

The Scoping Inquiry was set up in the aftermath of a 2022 radio documentary called “Blackrock Boys,” which revealed how extensive abuse took place at the Spiritan-run Blackrock College in Dublin.

“I am announcing today that the government has accepted the principal recommendation of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry, which is for the establishment of a Commission of Investigation,” Minister for Education Norma Foley said Sept. 3. “Historical sexual abuse is a profoundly serious matter and needs to be examined in detail. The Report of the Scoping Inquiry is a harrowing document, containing some of the most appalling accounts of sexual abuse.

The Scoping Inquiry, written by senior counsel Mary O’Toole, contains extensive accounts of sexual abuse, rape, and sexual assault, and there are warnings in the report that it “may be distressing to read.”

Foley acknowledged the experiences of David Ryan and his late brother Mark, whose testimonies were featured in Blackrock Boys. She said they were both “instrumental in the establishment of the Scoping Inquiry.”

Some of the “harrowing” allegations mentioned by Foley concerned schools for disabled pupils. There are also descriptions of “physical punishment and violence” in some schools.

Central to the Scoping Inquiry was a survivor engagement process to ascertain the extent of the allegations of historical child sexual abuse in the schools. This involved consultation with survivors in order to “learn what is important to survivors now and what the next steps should be.”

The Catholic Education Partnership, which represents the entire Catholic education community across Ireland, acknowledged “the significance of this report, the grave harm caused to survivors and their families, and those who suffered but are no longer with us.” Lamenting the safeguarding failings, the partnership denounced the “gravely dysfunctional and abusive education system with respect to child safeguarding.”

“It is painfully clear that children and the trust of their families were betrayed in the most devastating of ways,” the partnership added. It promised to “fully cooperate” with the Commission of Investigation and pointed out that safeguarding practices have improved significantly in recent years. 

“Catholic schools have robust child safeguarding procedures, most recently reviewed in 2023,” the partnership said, adding that it is “fully committed to maintaining effective child safeguarding.”

Bishop Kevin Doran from the Irish Bishops’ Conference described the report as a “tragedy,” given the large numbers of people affected.

“The tragedy of the report is not simply that there are so many of them but that so many of them had to carry their experience alone for so many years before they felt sufficiently free to tell someone else,” Doran said. “I am conscious that behind every paragraph is the experience of real people who, as children, suffered abuse and violence in a place where they should have been safe.”

The bishop also offered an apology to those affected but acknowledged that the words “may sound hollow to survivors and their families” and said that “actions speak louder than words.”

Doran, who is both bishop of Elphin and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Achonry in Ireland, said: “Together with the safeguarding teams in both dioceses, I am committed to ensuring that the policies and procedures which have been put in place for the safeguarding of children will continue to be fully implemented.”

The Irish government is yet to announce who will chair the Commission of Investigation or a time frame for the investigation.