Ex-archbishop sues RTÉ over paedophile claim

A Catholic archbishop who resigned after breaking his vow of celibacy has sued RTÉ for defamation, alleging he was wrongly depicted as a paedophile in the 2011 Prime Time Investigates programme, ‘Mission to Prey’.

Tipperary-born Richard Burke, now aged 66, had intimate sexual relations with Dolores Atwood, who featured on the RTÉ programme, but not when she was underage, his counsel Jack Fitzgerald said.

Mr Burke “is not a paedophile” and has never in his life ever molested a child, Mr Fitzgerald told a High Court jury yesterday.

As an archbishop who had sexual relations with Ms Atwood, she had “leaned” on him and he paid her “a large sum of money” — about €176,000. That was something not mentioned in the programme, counsel said.

The jury would hear of pressure Ms Atwood put on Mr Burke such that he became “terrified” of the exposure of the relationship he had with her, Mr Fitzgerald said.

There would be evidence of “further threats”, including giving him four options for her to keep quiet, one of which was to pay another €50,000 over five years on top of the €176,000 already paid to her.

Mr Fitzgerald was opening the action by Mr Burke against RTÉ alleging defamation arising from the ‘Mission to Prey’ programme, broadcast on May 23, 2011.

RTÉ denies defamation and pleads that the contents of the programme related to Mr Burke are true.

‘Mission to Prey’ was played to the jury during the opening of the case.

In his opening, address, Mr Fitzgerald said Mr Burke, from Clonmel, resigned in May 2010 as archbishop of his diocese in Benin City in Nigeria because he did not comply with his commitment to celibacy as a cleric. Mr Burke had let down himself, his family, and the Church because of non-compliance with his celibacy commitment. He was ashamed of that, remorseful, humiliated, and in pain because of the resignation, “but he is not a paedophile”.

Mr Fitzgerald said RTÉ was standing over the allegation made by Ms Atwood in the programme, which was about child sex abuse. The programme, in summary, said Mr Burke is a paedophile and he could not think of anything worse to say of anybody or of any institution more powerful than RTÉ to say that of anyone, counsel said. After that, he could not think of anything worse than the way RTÉ was now presenting the matter in court.

Mr Fitzgerald said that, in its defence, RTÉ was saying, ‘Yes, we said he is a paedophile on Prime Time and we still say he is a paedophile’.

“They repeat it in the High Court, that is why this case is so serious.”

Counsel said Ms Atwood was born on August 16, 1969, Mr Burke first met her in either 1986 or 1987 and did not know her when she was aged 13 or 14. While she had described on the Prime Time Investigates programme an event that happened to her when she was aged 13 or 14 and seemed to suggest that happened “out of the blue”, that was not correct, counsel said. Mr Burke would say an event similar to that did happen but not when she was the age she claimed.

When an allegation is being made, both sides should be heard, but RTÉ promoted Ms Atwood from a person making allegations to a person recounting actual definite facts, counsel said.