Commission appeals to victims of clerical sex abuse

VICTIMS of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin are being encouraged to contact a formal Government inquiry into the handling of such cases.

The Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation — which was established by the Government last November — has called on anyone with knowledge of allegations of child sex abuse by priests operating in the archdiocese to come forward with their information.

The commission, which is headed by Circuit Court judge Yvonne Murphy, will examine the handling of such complaints against priests and the response of Church authorities to such cases.

It was established following publication of the Ferns report, which highlighted serious shortcomings in the way the Wexford diocese dealt with priests accused of sexually abusing children.

It is understood the archdiocese of Dublin has so far recorded complaints against more than 60 priests over the past four decades, although at least one was subsequently established to be false.

Last year, the archdiocese admitted that it has paid out over €5 million in settlements and legal costs arising out of 105 civil actions taken by alleged victims against 32 individual priests.

The commission will select a representative sample of complaints and allegations made to both Church and State authorities about priests in the Dublin archdiocese between January 1975 and May 2004.

It will also examine if any efforts were made by members of the clergy to obstruct, prevent or interfere with the reporting of such allegations.

A spokesperson for the commission said yesterday that it would have “a degree of flexibility” in investigating complaints that related to dates outside this period.

The commission, which has a budget of €4.5m, is due to submit a full and final report on its work by summer 2007.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has already promised that the archdiocese will fully co-operate with the commission of investigation. It has already made available more than 22,000 documents to gardaí involved in investigating complaints of child abuse by priests.

The Commission of Investigation can be contacted at 21 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2. Tel [phone] or e-mail: [e-mail]