The Assembly Buildings, the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, were built to last.
Made of local Scrabo stone in the style of a Scottish castle, for more than 120 years it has dominated a busy junction in Belfast city centre, its imposing bulk designed to imply authority, influence and permanence.
This week, it was where the church’s incoming moderator conducted a series of interviews with selected journalists, the first given by the church’s leadership since a scandal erupted four months ago over failures in its child safeguarding policy which have sparked an extensive police investigation.
So far, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has received 101 referrals, which include direct reports from victims as well as from “safeguarding partners and other parties”, and this number is expected to rise. An investigation by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) is also under way.
READ MORE
Normally, Reverend Richard Kerr might have expected this first interview to be about introducing himself as the forthcoming leader of Ireland’s approximately 185,000 Presbyterians; it might have focused on his Donegal roots, his missionary work in Malawi, or his chaplaincy service at an immigration detention unit in Larne.
But these are unprecedented times for the Presbyterian Church, which have shaken that solid structure to its foundations. “Focusing on our failings and how we address those ... that is a reality and we need to face up to that and deal with that,” Kerr said.
He began with an apology: “There’s no get-out clause, there’s no ifs, buts or maybes about that, we are apologising very, very clearly.
“We have got things wrong in our central safeguarding systems, and we apologise profusely for that.
“We are grieved, and I say this personally, because this hurts me very much, that people have been harmed or hurt by our failings as a denomination.
[ Presbyterian Church in Ireland facing child sex abuse ‘earthquake’Opens in new window ]
“I want to do all in my power as moderator this coming year to address that. It’s inexcusable we’ve got ourselves to this place.”
In November, an internal, unpublished report into its safeguarding practices found the church had failed to deal adequately with a number of child protection issues involving three Presbyterian congregations on both sides of the Border over a 13-year period.
“Between 2009 and 2021, with one additional case in 2022” it found the church failed “to make referrals to statutory authorities when these were required” and did not respond “adequately to concerns expressed to us about individuals in congregations”.
It “failed to respond properly when people asked for help when they had suffered harm” and did not keep “proper and adequate” records.
It also identified situations when the church was “told by statutory authorities that some offenders wanted to return to worship in Church, and we didn’t monitor them as we should”.
The then moderator, the Rev Trevor Gribben resigned, stating it was “clear” there had been “serious and significant failings in the central safeguarding functions of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
“As a result of this, people have been placed at risk. We are aware of a number of people who have been harmed, and we believe there may well be others as yet unknown to us. We apologise unreservedly for this.”
The internal investigation is understood to have been sparked by information received from the PSNI about 37-year-old primary school teacher William Maher, of King’s Brae in Belfast, who was convicted of child sex offences in May 2025.
Described by a PSNI detective constable as “a child predator who used his position of trust to take advantage of young boys”, Maher was sentenced to one year in prison and one on licence for sexual offences against two of his 10-year-old pupils.
The charges against him included three counts of sexual communications with a child and three counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual offences on dates between September 2021 and May 2022.
Maher was also a voluntary youth leader in the Presbyterian Church. Following Gribben’s resignation, the boys’ families told UTV complaints about Maher had been made to the church as far back as 2018 but were treated as an “internal matter”.
“Had the church taken appropriate steps at that stage, there is every chance that our children would not have been victims of his at a later date,” one parent said.
Others had also raised concerns: Ian Elliott, an internationally recognised expert in child safeguarding, previously told The Irish Times he attempted to alert church authorities to failings in its child protection policies in 2023 but his advice was “refused”.
Members of the Presbyterian faith have told The Irish Times of their “distress”, “devastation” and “immense anger” at both the harm done to victims and the way the scandal has been handled by the church hierarchy, with its response viewed as church- rather than victim-centred and prioritising the protection of the institution before providing support or accountability for those it should have helped.
Kerr, who is a minister in Templepatrick, Co Antrim, described the “shock” he felt when the news broke. “People are disappointed, saddened, and there is a feeling they’ve been let down by people who they had trusted,” he said.
He outlined the action he intends to take: “As a denomination, we are very, very determined that we’re going to put our house in order.
“I want to meet with people who are victims, I want to say that my door is open, I want to listen to their stories.”
This would require “some sort of structure as to how that happens ... there needs to be clear thinking through how we help to take people through this” and “provide ... counselling” and “the support they need”.
He said a “separate safeguarding department” has been set up which will be “well staffed, adequately resourced ... it will be totally fit for purpose, and we want to ensure that this never happens again”.
There have also been changes to the church’s governance structures, with the positions of clerk and general secretary now split into two distinct roles.
A “working group” has been set up to “look at redress”, which could include financial compensation. “Everything’s on the table at the moment,” Kerr said.
He excluded a full, independent inquiry, which he said is not required because that undertaken by the Charity Commission will fulfil that remit. “I understand ... [that] will be robust, that will be independent.”
Kerr said: “There’s no cover up here, we want to ... create a culture where there is openness, where there’s transparency.
“It’s not possible for us to provide that clarity at the moment, given that there are two ongoing investigations from the PSNI and CCNI,” but once they conclude the facts will be published. “Most definitely, the reports coming out of that will have to be public. We will have to come out and say, ‘this is what has happened’.
“It may not provide all the detail that some people may want, but certainly, we’re not in the business of hiding this or brushing it under the carpet.
“When trust is broken, it always takes a lot of time, it’s very difficult to recover trust. I hope that in my year as moderator I can be part of that rebuilding trust.”
