House of horrors social workers ‘vilified’

KEY personnel looking after the children in one of the country’s most disturbing abuse cases felt “vilified” and “crucified” and left hung out to dry by health service management when details of the case emerged.

Speaking for the first time about the trauma they endured in the storm of publicity surrounding the Roscommon “house of horrors” abuse case, social workers and childcare staff compared it to being “hit by a train” and “battered from all sides”, with little support coming from their superiors in the HSE.

Paddy Gannon, childcare manager in Roscommon until his retirement last March, said: “Everybody, even more so people above me rather than below me, seemed to be struggling and paralysed with anxiety; there was panic all over the place. Panic about ‘Are there other cases like this?’.