THE TAOISEACH HAS rounded on Sinn Féin’s handling of sex abuse allegations, saying Gerry Adams must be “first” to inform authorities and the public where the IRA moved “known child abusers.”
Speaking to the Fine Gael Presidential Dinner in Dublin last night, Kenny said he “deplores the actions of the Sinn Féin party [in avoiding] the responsibility of the republican movement’s handling of these issues.”
There is one issue about which there can be no equivocation, and that is the issue of child abuse and rape…
We now know that the IRA moved known child abusers from Northern Ireland to this state.
And the authorities in the areas to which these people were relocated are not aware of their backgrounds, and that potentially puts some children at risk.
Kenny accused Sinn Féin of “diversionary political tactics” in the wake of Mairia Cahill’s claim that republicans forced her into a “kangaroo court” investigation into her alleged rape by an IRA member.
To applause from party officials and members, the Taoiseach added:
Deputy Adams himself, as somebody who knows quite a lot about the IRA movement, should be the first to approach the authorities and tell the people where these persons were moved to in this jurisdiction.
…They have to come forward and they must identify for the authorities down here – and they know who they are – these people who have been moved into this jurisdiction, so that we can ensure, and parents can ensure, that their children are safe.
Adams has admitted that the IRA “shot or exiled” child sex abusers from Northern Ireland, but repeatedly denied that he or the Sinn Féin party covered up abuse, as claimed by Cahill in a BBC Spotlight documentary.
On Friday, she said the IRA member who allegedly raped her was “given money and moved out of [Northern Ireland].”
Additional reporting by Hugh O’Connell.
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