Cardinal’s ‘secret deal’ for arrest of Smyth

A FORMER senior RUC officer has claimed the late Cardinal Cahal Daly made a secret deal with a chief constable in the North to arrange the arrest and imprisonment of notorious paedophile priest, Brendan Smyth.

Retired detective superintendent Kevin Sheehy has revealed that the late cardinal brokered an arrangement with former RUC chief constable Hugh Annesley in 1994 to hand Smyth over to the civil authorities.

It resulted from the cardinal’s frustration at the failure of the priest’s own Norbertine order to deal with a series of complaints against the serial sex abuser.

Mr Sheehy maintains that the cardinal agreed with Mr Annesley to end the Church’s practice of dealing with such matters internally and not passing on allegations of abuse by priests to the police.

Details of the deal between Cardinal Daly and the RUC are contained in a memoir written by Mr Sheehy. He explained that the cardinal, who died last year, had first contacted the head of the Norbertines, Kevin Smith, based at Kilnacrott, Co Cavan, in February 1990 with concerns about Fr Smyth.

Despite receiving repeated assurances from Fr Smith over the following years that the matter would be addressed, Cardinal Daly became increasingly annoyed that no action was taken against the priest, according to Mr Sheehy.

“I strongly suspect that the cardinal contacted Rome to explain that, in the delicate context of Ulster, it was necessary for him to cooperate fully with the civil authorities,” remarked Mr Sheehy.

He added that Cardinal Daly and his solicitors met with the RUC to agree a process whereby suspected clerical abusers would be made available to the police for interview.

Cardinal Daly’s successor as Archbishop of Armagh, Seán Brady, the current Primate of All Ireland, has become embroiled in a controversy after allegations recently surfaced that he was involved in a cover-up of abuse by Smyth.

However, the cardinal has resisted calls for his resignation despite admitting that he attended two meeting in 1975 at which two of the priest’s victims were forced to sign an oath of silence.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Communications Office declined to comment on reports of the 1994 deal between the Church and the RUC yesterday.