Survivors: ‘Bishops trying to cut us dead’

Survivors of industrial abuse have accused the Irish Catholic hierarchy of “trying to cut us dead” in the past year and have threatened, in a protest action, to walk 253km from Cork to Dublin during the week of the Eucharistic Congress.

Survivors, Christopher Heaphy, who this week stood at the altar of a West Waterford church and called for a national day of atonement, and former mayor of Clonmel Michael O’Brien have said the ‘Bishops’ Response to Survivors Initiative (BRSI)’, which was set up in the aftermath of the publication of the Ryan Report, is being ignored by the bishops. It is 10 months since any of the bishops attended survivor meetings.

A meeting was called three months ago but, when the survivors arrived, they discovered that none of the bishops were present. Instead the diocese of Limerick’s child protection director and bishops’ conference representative Ger Crowley, a religious sister and a representative from the Catholic communications office were present.