People should be wary of getting involved in a witch hunt against convicted sex abusers, a psychotherapist has warned. Ms Marie Keenan, who works with abusers and their victims, said offenders released from prison here were fleeing to England because they were being hounded from their homes.
She was speaking after newspaper reports claimed that Father Ivan Payne, recently released after serving 4½ years for the sex abuse of boys, was living in an apartment at Dublin's International Financial Services Centre.
Yesterday, it was reported that Father Payne had been there, but had now gone. Residents from the area marched on the apartment block on Wednesday night, demanding that he leave. It is understood that plans to accommodate the priest in Co Kildare had to be abandoned after previous newspaper reports.
Ms Keenan called for a coherent strategy for releasing sex offenders into the community. But, she said, there was no point in drawing up such a strategy without community involvement. Treatment must be a key part of any reintegration into society. Family members, who were aware of the full history of the abuse, should also be involved to support the offender.
Finding acceptable accommodation was "almost impossible", as any place could always be construed as being too near a school or playground or creche. If Irish society did not take action, it would result in the export of our sex abuse problem, just as our abortion problem was exported, Ms Keenan said.
We were already "on the road" to having gardaí on duty outside sex offenders' homes to protect them. People should remember that sex offenders who had served jail sentences were a lower risk than abusers who were not caught and continued to abuse.
She also warned against the "warehousing" of offenders, as was being considered by the Catholic Church in the US. If the public began to call for this in Ireland, the church here might take that path but it would be a mistake, she said.
Privately, church sources admit it is difficult to find accommodation for convicted priests. "It's like a dump or incinerator. No one wants one near them," a priest said.