Post-Cloyne training for child protection officers in dioceses

CHILD protection officers in the country’s 26 dioceses have received training in recent months on how much information to give to alleged abusers following the scandal in Cloyne where victim statements were handed to an accused priest before a garda interview.

The investigation did not find that Fr Bill Bermingham, the then child protection delegate, had breached church guidelines but the investigator underlined the importance of child protection delegate impartiality. The inquiry did not, however, recommend that new guidelines be drawn up to remove any possibility of further misinterpretation.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) held an investigation into complaints last year by two abuse victims that their statements were handed to the accused priest and his legal team — before he was interviewed by gardaí. When a complaint was made to them by one of the women, the board hired an independent consultant to review what had happened.