Abuse watchdog director quit before investigation into order

CORI’S representative on the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) resigned as a director of the board just days before the watchdog began investigating his own order’s implementation of child protection guidelines.

Professor David Smith is also the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart’s child protection delegate and is the priest charged with overseeing best practice in the area.

Last month, the NBSCCC began an investigation into that order’s handling of clerical sex abuse complaints. Several weeks later, the gardaí and HSE announced that they were to investigate allegations of past sexual and physical abuse at the former boarding school, Carrignavar College, which was run by the Sacred Heart Missionaries.