Irish church child sexual abuse covered for years

(Press TV) -- An investigating commission has reported that child sexual abuse has been covered up by the Dublin archdiocese and other church authorities for almost 30 years.

“The State authorities facilitated the cover up by not fulfilling their responsibilities to ensure that the law was applied equally to all and allowing the Church institutions to be beyond the reach of the normal law enforcement processes,” the report said Thursday.

“The abuse of children in Dublin was a scandal. The failure of the archdiocesan authorities to penalize the perpetrators is also a scandal,” it added.

“There was little or no concern for the welfare of the abused child or for the welfare of other children who might come into contact with the priest. Complainants were often met with denial, arrogance and cover-up and with incompetence and incomprehension in some areas. Suspicions were rarely acted on,” it further explained.

The report, published by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, also noted that all four archbishops in the period - McQuaid, Ryan, McNamara and Connell - handled complaints badly.

The report, covering 1975 to 2004, comes in two parts. The first part examines the handling of sexual abuse complaints in the archdiocese, while the second details the cases of 46 individual priests against whom allegations were made.

The report further criticized the “extraordinary delay” in introducing child protection legislation and said the primary responsibility for the area must rest with the State.

The Commission, chaired by Circuit Court Judge Yvonne Murphy, investigated the handling of allegations made against a sample of 46 priests of the 102 against whom complaints were made between 1975 and 2004.