A lobby group representing religious, who say they have been falsely accused of sexually abusing children, is planning to take legal action against the State on behalf of those "falsely accused" before the Residential Institutional Redress Board (RIRB).
The Love (Let Our Voices Emerge) group, said yesterday it was calling on "all of our members who are going through or have gone through the RIRB" to get in contact "if they want to take part in our seeking legal help in getting an apology and/or compensation".
Love describes itself as a charity dedicated to providing "support for all people, including the religious, of integrity who state that they are innocent of allegations of child abuse being made against them".
The lobby group says it has cases the State must address. It goes on to cite cases in Novia Scotia in 2002, where the Canadian state offered 179 employees of youth detention centres, who had been cleared of child abuse allegations, settlements of between $5,000 (€4,925) and $40,000 (€32,735) each. The offers were made to staff accused of child abuse but cleared by tribunal.
A spokeswoman for Love said yesterday she had "spoken to a brilliant legal firm who have already worked successfully in the area of false allegations". She said the legal firm was based in Dún Laoghaire.
She said that once an allegation of abuse was made against someone a cloud hung over them.
