Councillors urged not to remove Freedom of Drogheda from Edmund Garvey by sex abuse support group chief

The chairman of a Drogheda-based advocacy group for victims of sex abuse urged the town’s councillors not to rescind the Freedom of Drogheda from the former head of the Christian Brothers, Edmund Garvey.

In an email in July to the 10 councillors, chairman of Dignity4Patients group Paul Murphy said Br Garvey was a “blameless” person whose family is “deeply respected in the town”. However, at the weekend the board of management of Dignity4Patients said it was “outraged” by the contents of the email, which it had not known about, and that it was now “reviewing the make-up of the board”.

Dignity4Patients has its origins in the case of Michael Shine, a surgeon who sexually abused child patients at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, over decades. More than 100 of his victims have taken civil actions for damages in the courts.

Legal strategy

The removal of the Freedom of Drogheda from Br Garvey is being sought by a group of about 30 men who are pursuing damages from the Christian Brothers because of sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of members of the order when they were children. They want the honour removed because Br Garvey was the order’s leader when it adopted a legal strategy that makes it very difficult for claimants to advance their court cases.

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Damian O’Farrell, who is leading the campaign on behalf of the men, said he was “numbed and physically sick” when he read Mr Murphy’s email.

In the email, Mr Murphy said he was chairman of the Dignity4Patients group but was writing in a personal capacity. “I feel entitled to be able to express an opinion ... firstly, as a native of Drogheda and, secondly, since I have a record for speaking up for the rights of victims of abuse,” he said.

Br Garvey, he said, was given the Freedom of Drogheda in 1997 for his track record as an educator. “He is, to my knowledge, a blameless person. I strongly believe that the legal strategy adopted by the Christian Brothers in court cases against the order is ethically wrong and deeply hurtful to many victims, but there is a danger that the issue will become personalised on one individual,” he wrote.

“I am not a friend of the Garvey family in Drogheda but have had contact with individual members of the family in my professional capacity and I know that they are deeply respected in the town.”

‘Betrayal of abuse victims’

Mr O’Farrell said Mr Murphy’s intervention was “unforgivable. In 25 years of advocacy work, I’ve never experienced such a betrayal of abuse victims.”

The board of management of Dignity4Patients said it first learned of the email on August 19th and that its content did not reflect the group’s ethos.

Two Labour councillors from Drogheda, Michelle Hall and Emma Cutlip, said they will be voting in favour of rescindment, subject to such a motion going on the agenda next month.

Mr Murphy, a former editor of the Drogheda Independent, declined to comment. Br Garvey did not respond to a request for a comment.