Calls for special garda protection units

OPPOSITION politicians have called for the establishment of specialist garda child protection units across the country in the wake of the Murphy Report into the Ferns scandal.

Mr Justice Francis Murphy recommended the setting up of the units, citing the North as an example.

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy is still studying the report and had by last night made no comment on its findings and recommendations.

The report criticised the response of senior named gardaí following allegations in three cases - Fr Jim Grennan, Fr James Doyle and Canon Martin Clancy. It heard allegations a file prepared by investigators was “quashed”.

In particular, the response to the allegations against Grennan, who is alleged to have abused seven girls in Monageer, was “wholly unsatisfactory”. No file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The report finds that after the early 1990s there appears to have been major changes in the way complaints were dealt with. Now, most files on child sexual abuse complaints are passed on to the DPP.

In more general terms, Mr Justice Murphy noted the reluctance of victims to report abuse to state agencies.

He recommended gardaí receive specialist training in interviewing children and be able to provide a child-friendly and secure environment to reduce trauma. The North’s specialist child protection units could provide a model.

Fine Gael’s justice spokesman Jim O’Keeffe said the gardaí have much to learn from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which has undergone radical change in recent years.

“This particular aspect is one needed to be followed up. I will be tabling a question to the Minister for Justice on this very issue.”

There are 12 specialist Child Abuse and Rape Inquiry Units in the North, with 70 officers attached to them. All officers undergo specialist training.

Their job is the prevention and detection of both the physical and sexual abuse of children and adult rape and sexual assault.