Public hearings into abuse at girls’ school

THE Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse is to begin public hearings into allegations of abuse at an industrial school for girls in Co Longford when it resumes in the New Year.

Chairman of the Commission Mr Justice Seán Ryan has announced that a new module of the inquiry, which first began its work in May 1999, will examine allegations of child abuse at Our Lady of Succour Industrial School in Newtownforbes, Co Longford.

The hearings are due to start on January 11 next when evidence will be given by representatives of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, the religious order which operated the school for over 100 years until its closure in 1969.