Retired senior garda calls for prosecutions

A RETIRED Garda boss has called for prosecutions to be taken against gardaí who covered up clerical child sex abuse documented in the Murphy Report.

The comments by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Joe Egan come as a Garda investigation swings into action this week to examine whether any Church or State officials committed a criminal offence in their handling of child sex abuse cases.

Assistant Commissioner (AC) John O’Mahoney, appointed to conduct the review by Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy last Friday, will draw up a list of Church officials and gardaí, serving and retired, who may have a case to answer.

On Newstalk radio yesterday, retired DC Egan said: “There should be no hesitation in taking action against Gardaí responsible for covering up sex abuse crimes committed by the clergy.

“And I mean, there is nobody, and I mean nobody, who wouldn’t advocate strongly prosecutions for anybody that failed to act and in any way contributed to the horrific nightmare that was impinged on people.”

Referring to “inappropriate relationships” between senior officers and clerics mentioned in the report, Mr Egan said: “When you take the named people, and I don’t want to go into the named people now, but if you take them in the report and the comparable Church people that they had connections with, it may indicate whether they were discussing other issues on the day or whatnot, or whether they came to some agreements for whatever motive, it does seem to indicate that there was a reliance on one another... bouncing off one another in certain circumstances.”

Meanwhile, AC O’Mahoney will assemble his investigation team this week and will select a detective superintendent to head it.

It is expected he may draw most of his team from within the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), where he once was a detective superintendent.

He will also liaise with the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit, which is based in the NBCI. The Murphy Report praised the work and staff of this unit.

The AC’s team will identify the gardaí involved in the six to eight cases in which the Murphy report was critical of the gardaí’s handling. An unknown number are still serving. They are obliged to answer any questions.

Two former chief superintendents criticised in the report, Joe McGovern and Maurice O’Connor, are in their 80s. They can only be interviewed voluntarily, or under arrest, which some sources see as unlikely.

The AC will then draw up a report for the commissioner, who will consult with the DPP regarding the possibility of criminal charges. The report could take a number of months.