‘I should have gone straight to the gardaí’

THE report deals with one of only two cases where the complaint was made concerning a person who was still a child.

‘Fr Flan’, a curate in Mallow, admitted to Monsignor O’Callaghan, who was his parish priest, that he had a relationship with a 16-year-old girl, after which his activities were restricted. However, no investigation was carried out and Bishop Magee was not informed.

It was only when Fr Flan later eloped with a married woman that he was suspended from priestly duties.