Bill Kenneally continued to canvass houses for his cousin Brendan Kenneally, the former Fianna Fáil TD, after the latter had been informed of claims of abuse made against the now-convicted paedophile.
Asked about the risk to children posed by Bill Kenneally while canvassing, Mr Kenneally told a State-commissioned inquiry into the response to claims made against the former basketball coach that in 2001, he believed his cousin’s abuse was confined to the basketball circles. He also noted that canvassers always worked in pairs.
“Obviously, I didn’t realise the extent of what he had done at this stage,” he said.
Continuing his evidence after previous hearings last month, Mr Kenneally again denied minimising or showing apathy towards claims of abuse made against his cousin, or that he was trying to keep “quiet” the abuse perpetrated. “That was never my intention to do that.”
Bill Kenneally (72), of Laragh, Summerville Road, Waterford, was first convicted in 2016 and is now serving prison sentences of more than 18 years for abusing 15 boys between 1979 and 1990.
Bill Kenneally had canvassed for Mr Kenneally – a TD and senator between 1989 and 2011 – during previous election campaigns, at least going back to 1989.
Ray Motherway, appearing for some of Bill Kenneally’s victims, put to Mr Kenneally that while his cousin may not have posed an “immediate” risk while canvassing, information gained while going door-to-door could have facilitated the perpetration of abuse.
“He was certainly exposed to children, and he became aware of who was in a house when he knocked,” counsel reasoned.
The commission previously heard that in August 2001, a woman came to Mr Kenneally’s constituency office in Waterford informing him that her partner and another man had been abused by his cousin as minors.
Mr Kenneally kept a file noting details from the meeting with the woman – and of later engagements with her – but had later misplaced it up until a couple of weeks ago, the commission heard on Wednesday.
In October 2001, the same woman sent a letter to Mr Kenneally outlining the abuse. The letter claimed that gardaí, Mr Kenneally’s father Billy, and Monsignor John Shine – an uncle of Bill’s – were all aware of an earlier abuse claim against Bill.
Reiterating his reasoning for not reporting claims of abuse against his cousin in 2001, Mr Kenneally told the commission that he was under instruction from the woman not to involve gardaí.
Mr Kenneally later arranged for Bill Kenneally to meet with a psychiatrist who was known to the former TD.
“I just thought it was easier to talk to someone I knew,” Mr Kenneally told the commission, when asked by Mr Motherway why he didn’t refer his cousin to a psychiatrist via “normal, proper” channels. He denied that contacting the psychiatrist was a “box ticking” exercise.
The psychiatrist’s consultation with Bill Kenneally lasted “10 or 15 minutes”, the inquiry heard, and would have been of little value by ways of intervention. “A waste of time,” commission chair Mr Justice Michael White said.
Mr Kenneally said the psychiatrist was a “professional” man, and that he received a “verbal report” from him after his appointment with Bill.
Ercus Stewart SC, for the commission, said that the woman who told Mr Kenneally of the abuse in 2001 wrote in her letter: “I find it hard to sleep at night . . . I wonder if you could ask they [those who previous knew of the abuse] how they can, knowing that they did so little [to prevent the abuse from happening].”
Mr Stewart reasoned that this line from the letter gave Mr Kenneally “clear authority” to make inquires about the abuse.
Mr Stewart put it to Mr Kenneally that once he was aware of claims against his cousin, there was an onus on him – both as an elected representative and as a citizen – to stop the potential of further abuse.
“Perhaps I did not go the right way about it,” he said.
Mr Kenneally said that he had no contact with his cousin since his imprisonment. He told the commission that he received a letter from his cousin “quite a number of years ago”, but that he had not read it.
“I don’t want to have any contact with him ever again,” he said.
