BISHOP OF Limerick Donal Murray was among the former auxiliary bishops who dealt “badly” with allegations of child sex abuse in the Dublin diocese. The commission was critical of Bishop Murray’s handling of complaints about Fr Tom Naughton. In June this year Naughton pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault in relation to a complainant from Valleymount.
In 1983, two parishioners from Valleymount expressed concerns to Bishop Murray about his behaviour, claiming he was “too close to the altar boys”. Bishop Murray told the commission the two men wanted Fr Naughton removed from the parish. The parish priest investigated the complaints and concluded they were unfounded. In 2002 Bishop Murray said he was aware that if he had derived “more information from the various interviews I conducted, it might have been possible to prevent some of the dreadful suffering of child abuse”.
The commission says “no attempt” was made by Bishop Murray to revisit these stated concerns even after he became aware of Naughton’s abusive behaviour in parishes of Donnycarney and Ringsend.