Child protection director to take HSE post

THE DIRECTOR of the child protection service for Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese will take up a new post with the HSE on Tuesday. Phil Garland will be one of four assistant national directors of its children’s and families’ service.

Mr Garland has held his position with the Dublin archdiocese since September 2003.

He played a key role in putting in place measures for the protection of children throughout the archdiocese as well as training programmes for volunteers who supervise child protection in Dublin’s 199 Catholic parishes.

He was also deeply involved with Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in collating the 66,580 documents that were handed over to the archdiocese’s commission of investigation, which inquired into how clerical child sex-abuse allegations were handled in the archdiocese by church and civil authorities.

“Phil and I grew up with this [child protection issue] together,” said Archbishop Martin yesterday. “He was an extraordinary help to me, in keeping me on track. It was a very honest relationship.” And, whereas discussion between them could be robust, “I never went against his advice,” the archbishop said.

Mr Garland said what had been “rolled out is not window dressing but is part of what the diocese is now. That is a big shift.”

The post being vacated by Mr Garland is to be advertised shortly and is expected to be filled by February of next year.