Gardaí contacted more than 500 times over abuse at religious-run schools 

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the "great majority” of complaints were from men and the bulk related to sexual abuse

Drew Harris arrives for Thursday's meeting with the Policing Authority. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Gardaí have received more than 500 contacts from the public following a report three weeks ago into abuse at religious-run schools.

Giving the update to the Policing Authority, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris also said that officers only received footage earlier on Thursday from private security staff, which was broadcast on RTÉ Investigates last Thursday, showing serious criminality and assaults at the Coolock disorder.

He told members that gardaí “didn’t know” this footage existed and said officers would now start analysing whether there was any person captured in the footage committing serious crime who has not already arrested and charged.

The authority also heard:

• There have been 862 protests so far this year, compared to 553 in the same period last year and 286 the year before;
• Two anti-riot water cannons, capable of carrying over 5,000 litres of water, are being purchased to deal with large-scale public disorder;
• All gardaí are to get protective head equipment — a ‘hard hat’ — to protect them in Coolock-type situations where bottles and bricks are thrown at them;

In relation to historical sexual abuse identified in a scoping study on religious-run schools, documenting almost 2,400 allegations and 844 alleged abusers, Mr Harris said they have received 522 contacts from people since they issued an appeal on 4 September.

He said the "great majority” of complaints were from men and the bulk related to sexual abuse.

He said they have started analysing and investigating the complaints. He said that in a proportion of cases, gardaí already knew about the allegations and that a number of the suspects have been convicted, some of whom have since died.

He said they were going back over 25 years of investigations, which, he said, was a “huge investigative effort” to determine what was done back then.

The scoping report does talk about institutions ignoring or suppressing this horrendous problem, these horrendous crimes.

Authority chair Elaine Byrne said this could potentially include An Garda Síochána.

“We are specifically mentioned and we have to take that very seriously,” Mr Harris replied and said their internal document search would examine if a criminal investigation was necessary or if the commission of inquiry needed to be informed.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Policing Authority chair Elaine Byrne ahead of the Policing Authority meeting in Dublin on Thursday. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

People can email [e-mail] , ring their local Garda station, or contact the Garda Child Sexual Abuse Reporting Line on 1800 555 222.

In relation to the images of criminality and assault at the old Crown Paints Factory in Coolock, broadcast on RTÉ Investigates last Thursday, the commissioner said gardaí “didn’t know” this footage, taken from private security body-cams, existed.

He said gardaí only received the footage today. This is despite criminal investigations being in place since the disorder last July.

He pointed out that the footage contained “serious criminal damage and a very serious assault”.

He said there had been 34 arrests and 26 people charged. He said gardaí will now examine if there are people on the footage committing offences that have not already been arrested and charged.

He agreed with authority members that frontline gardaí were put in a “very difficult situation” between 10am and 1pm, confronted by considerable disorder and missiles, before the public order unit was deployed.

Ms Byrne said that since the Dublin Riots last November a “considerable amount of progress” has been made by gardaí in terms of public order training standards, centralised governance, and new policies.