The Taoiseach has issued a formal State apology to survivors of serial paedophile Bill Kenneally in the Dáil.
“As Taoiseach I apologise unreservedly, on behalf of the State, to the victims of Bill Kenneally for what was a clear and serious dereliction of duty,” Micheál Martin said.
Referring to Fianna Fáil TDs related to Kenneally, he added: “I am profoundly sorry that two former public representatives from my party so comprehensively failed to defend and protect young children from their nephew and cousin”.
“There is no question about the duty public representatives have to put the safety of others first, and I repeat the fact that two TDs, Billy Kenneally Snr and Brendan Kenneally failed in that duty to the victims of Bill Kenneally.”
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“They failed the victims by putting their own relative first.”
Kenneally was serving almost 20 years for the indecent assault of 10 boys at various locations in Waterford in the 1980s.
He died in prison last month at the age of 75, just over a week after the publication of a report by the Commission of Investigation into the official response to the serial child abuser’s case. It found a serious dereliction of duty by senior Garda officers when they learned Kenneally sexually abused a boy in the late 1980s.
Judge Michael White, who chaired the commission, also criticised the health board of the day for failing to follow through on complaints that could have led to Kenneally being caught much sooner.
The Taoiseach said “many of those victims, who I have had the honour of meeting on a number of occasions, are here today with their families.
“You waived your anonymity in order to ensure that the heinous crimes of Bill Kenneally were exposed and that other young boys were protected.”
Apologising, he named them individually: “Jason Clancy, Paul Walsh, Kevin Keating, Colin Power, Barry Murphy, Simon O’Toole, and Gerard Mullane.”
Martin also acknowledged and apologised to the 22 Commission witnesses who remained anonymous and other victims who did not wish to give evidence.
He said no words from Government could make up “for the theft of childhood from so many young boys, for the appalling abuse they suffered, and the enormous trauma they have experienced in their lives as a result.
“But we must acknowledge the failings that led to these awful outcomes, in recognition of the horrific experiences, and the bravery, of his victims; and also to ensure that it can never happen again.”
Kenneally’s victims said the apology “was a long time coming” and that it felt “like the last chains were taken off”.
“It was quite a comprehensive apology,” said Colin Power. “I was very pleased with that and how it went. They didn’t really leave any stone unturned.”
“What we would like as a group, genuinely, is that lessons are learnt from our ten odd years chasing this,” he said.
“I don’t have the answers, none of us do,” he added, “but there has to be better ways to speed up the processes, to make things more empathetic towards the victims and to get things done quicker, to get the outcome a lot faster than we have done.”
Gerry Mullane added: “We’ve waited eight and a half years, and it’s been emotional – I’ve had the ups and downs in life, so today I just have a better feeling. I’m emotional, it’s been an emotional day."
Fianna Fáil Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said the failure in 1987 to properly investigate Kenneally’s crimes “is a stain on the history of An Garda Siochána”.
He said he had “instructed my officials to begin the process to secure compensation for those who have suffered” as a result of the failures outlined in the Commission report.
The Minister said the “exact details will be worked out with engagement from the victims themselves.
“But on a very personal level, I do not want to see those of you that have been through so much put through any further lengthy legal processes,” he added. “I would like to see a mediated solution that brings much-needed closure to all parties.”
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly in a separate statement said that the force fully accepts the findings of the Commission, adding: “As Garda Commissioner I wish to offer my personal apology to the victims of Bill Kenneally for the significant failures of An Garda Síochána, we fell far short of what is expected of us.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said while the State apology was welcome the Government “must act on all the recommendations of the commission”.
It must also “crucially” deliver on its “promise to provide survivors with redress, with compensation”.
She said it was “very, very wrong that no steps have been taken yet to fulfil that commitment”.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik urged the introduction of the offence of misconduct of public office she said would “help to undo what we now know was a dangerous, ‘say nothing’ culture that prevailed through much of the 20th century”.
