Martin: Schools must be helped to safeguard children

SCHOOLS must be fully supported in their role of recognising and reporting suspected child abuse, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said last night.

He was addressing a meeting of the Dublin branch of the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN), an organisation which has twice this year raised concerns about reports to health authorities about signs of possible abuse not being acted upon. Dr Martin said it is important that there be co-operation between all those involved in child safeguarding

“The experience that emerged from my unfortunately extensive understanding of the child abuse that took place in Dublin is that, in many situations, abuse would have been detected much earlier had such co-operation been more effective,” he said.

The archbishop, who is patron to 477 Catholic schools with more than 124,000 pupils, said the impression has been given at times since the publication of the Child Abuse Commission report a month ago that religious-run schools are somehow deficient in the matter of child protection structures or that children may be at risk of abuse because their schools are under Catholic patronage.

“The state guidelines Children First operate in schools, in all schools. Catholic schools are obliged by the same guidelines and child protection practices as any other school and are subject to the same level of supervision,” said Dr Martin.

“It is vital that teachers must be fully supported in implementing these State guidelines, as teachers are almost always the first person outside the home to recognise when a child is unhappy and, therefore, possibly at risk,” he said.

He said a basic principle of safeguarding children is allowing them to be heard and he urged principals to ensure an awareness of the issues among children be taught effectively and sensitively in every school.

IPPN director Sean Cottrell told the Irish Examiner days after the Ryan report was published that social workers have been telling principals they can not intervene on reports of suspected abuse unless a situation reaches a crisis point. In response, the Health Service Executive said it was committed to making appropriate responses to children in need and it prioritises the 10% of reports it receives relating to concerns about children which are considered to be of a serious nature.

Dr Martin repeated his view last night that it is untenable for 92% of primary schools to be managed by the Catholic Church, and he called for a national forum on the future of education involving all interested groups. He said there is a problem about people opting out of diversity by sending children to schools in which the percentage of ethnic variety and educational diversity remains low.

“I am not referring just to fee-paying schools. I am referring to what is happening in cities and large towns in which mobility offers some opportunity to opt for schools with smaller numbers on the outskirts of towns, rather than to schools that are local, but ethnically mixed,” he said.