Bishop told of school’s ‘reign of abuse’

FORMER pupils of a primary school in the south-east have told Bishop of Ossory, Seamus Freeman how its teachers past and present, have presided over a “reign of abuse” that dates back 25 years.

The two past pupils and parents of young children, who lodged abuse allegations in the past three years, met with the bishop in recent weeks. Bishop Freeman who attended the meeting with his secretary, Fr Patrick Dalton, was told how physical and emotional abuse was “systematic” in the school and occurred after 1987 when corporal punishment was banned.

The bishop was told how children “were beaten with sticks... were pulled and dragged by their hair and ears and had objects wedged between their upper and lower teeth to force their mouth open”.