Cloyne abuse report - Do not bury this scandal

Bishop John Magee has accepted mistakes were made in handling the allegations of clerical sex abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne.

He has expressed his “disappointment” at the contents of the damning report of the Catholic Church’s Board for Safeguarding Children (NSBC), but will not be resigning over the issue.

Bishop Magee’s handling of the whole affair has been so inept that there can be no public confidence in his ability to deal with such matters, and even less confidence in the performance of Minister for Children Barry Andrews.

When the minister received the report last July he merely passed it on to the Health Service Executive, which essentially commissioned a report into the report, but those conducting that new report did not even interview the victims of the abuse.

This report has already been drawn up and should be released without delay.

In more than five months the minister never even bothered to read the original report. He was acting as a mere middleman in the circumstances. This is not as a responsible minister should behave.

His position as minister is therefore untenable, and the Taoiseach’s own position will become equally untenable if he thinks that this scandal can be buried with the trappings of the coming Christmas.