Mother to seek redress for abuse of son

THE MOTHER of a young boy sexually assaulted by a defrocked priest said she now plans to take a civil action against the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Disgraced cleric Fr Tony Walsh assaulted her 12-year-old son in the toilet of a pub. The incident happened in 1994 as mourners gathered after the funeral of the boy’s grandfather. It also emerged yesterday that another cleric in the parish recognised the priest at the funeral in Palmerstown in Dublin but did not want to create a scene.

It wasn’t the first time Fr Walsh had met the boy. A year earlier, he had approached the youth in a toilet from behind, kissing the back of his neck. The boy immediately ran from the toilets and complained to his mother that he thought the priest was weird.