Waterford basketball club secretary not told about abuse allegations against Bill Kenneally

Bill Kenneally, a former basketball coach who was first convicted in 2016, is currently serving a 19-year sentence for the indecent assault of 15 boys in Waterford between the years 1979 and 1980.

The secretary of the Waterford basketball club with whom convicted paedophile Bill Kenneally formerly coached has said gardaí never contacted her expressing concerns about the offender.

Ruth Sheehan, who was secretary of the Waterford Vikings club at the time that Kenneally resigned from its committee in 2013, replied “never” when asked if any such concerns had been expressed.

Kenneally, a former basketball coach who was first convicted in 2016, is currently serving a 19-year sentence for the indecent assault of 15 boys in Waterford between the years 1979 and 1980.

Under questioning at the commission of investigation into the Kenneally case, which seeks to establish if there was any impropriety regarding how the case was handled, Ms Sheehan said she was not sure as to whether she would have expected a garda with knowledge or suspicion of Kenneally’s offending to have informed the club with whom he coached.

“I don’t know because at that time there were no allegations made and at the time he was involved in the senior club, and not in the juvenile club, so maybe they didn’t feel there was a need,” she said.

Asked whether or not she would have been concerned to know whether someone involved at the club might have been involved in such activity, Ms Sheehan replied: “I suppose if they felt that he was involved in the club then yes, we would like to be aware of it.”

Ms Sheehan agreed had the club been notified earlier of Kenneally’s offending, it would have taken action.

She agreed that at an emergency club meeting, at which Kenneally was not present as it concerned him, on April 24, 2013, a rumour that a man involved in sport for 20 years had been abusing teenagers was discussed, and that it was agreed that the voice and mannerisms of the abuser in an interview with RTÉ — in which his image was distorted —appeared to be those of Bill Kenneally.

Ms Sheehan agreed the club had agreed to ask Kenneally if he was the offender in question, and after he confirmed same the following day. he had offered his resignation from the committee, which was accepted. She said the club had never had any dealings with Kenneally in the wake of that resignation.

She said she, along with her husband and his best friend, had set up the club’s juvenile team in or around 2005.

She said there was little interaction between the senior and juvenile teams and the only “involvement” between the two when the junior side was set up “was that we shared insurance”.

“At the time it was very much a separate club,” she said. She said it was “true” that Kenneally never travelled with the juvenile team, and never attended any of their matches home or away.

Ms Sheehan agreed the club was not a very big place. When asked if it was the case that there was thus the potential for interaction between the senior and junior clubs, she said “in later years, yes”.

She added the reason there was no involvement between the senior and junior clubs "was because of the expense”.

“We didn’t want the senior club getting hold of our funds that were generated from the juvenile club,” she said. 

“I would say that there was a very big separation at the start,” Ms Sheehan added.