Victims demand prosecutions

Survivors’ group One in Four has called for the prosecution of those who covered up for child sex abusers in the Dublin Archdiocese.

The organisation said there could be “no excuse” for such a cover-up and those who did should be criminally culpable.

One in Four executive director Maeve Lewis said the offence of reckless endangerment of children was only introduced into law in 2006, but covering up of any serious crime has always been an offence under common law and the evidence was there to bring prosecutions.

Criminal proceedings should be taken, not just against clergy, but against gardaí and health board personnel who knew of abuse but did nothing.

“We call on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to instigate criminal investigations immediately against those who colluded and conspired to protect sex offenders and the institutional Church and therefore facilitated the sexual abuse of more children,” she said.

Ms Lewis called for the extension of the work of the Murphy Commission into every diocese in the country and said its report demonstrated that the church could not be trusted to audit itself.

“We do not have a culture of accountability in this country and those in authority who recklessly endanger children act with impunity. This must change,” she explained.

She added that the organisation, which helps those have been the victims of child sex abuse, expected the report to a damning indictment of the Catholic Church, but the extent of collusion by the gardaí and health boards was still “shocking”.

Today’s press conference was attended by two survivors Marie Collins and Andrew Madden who were to the forefront in campaigning for an investigation into the Dublin Archdiocese.

Ms Collins, who was abused in the 1960s said it had been a “long road” for her and other campaigners, but she felt completely vindicated by the report.

Its central finding that the Church put the avoidance of scandal above the welfare of children “sums it up completely”, she explained.

Ms Collins also said that the Church could never be trusted again to audit its own child protection measures.

Mr Madden, who went public on compensation paid to him by abusing priest Fr Ivan Payne a move which precipitated the commission, said he was shocked by its findings no matter how much he knew of the reality of clerical sex abuse.

He called for the full implementation of the 99 point plan brought forward by the Minister for Children Barry Andrews in July of this year.