When money is involved, don’t assume that people alleging abuse are always truthful

THE provincial of the Christian Brothers’ St Mary’s (northern) province, Bro David Gibson, certainly had a point when he warned against the danger of innocent brothers being unjustly accused of abuses in industrial schools (Irish Examiner, May 23).

While we must always be conscious of the horrors and cruelties that were such an integral part of the industrial school system, and mindful of the fact that there were many victims of abuse in that system, we cannot simply assume that people alleging abuse are always telling the truth.

It is not long ago since one of the worst ever miscarriages of justice, a case involving bogus and fabricated abuse allegations, was brought to light. Former nun Nora Wall was found to have been wrongfully convicted of rape.