LAST UPDATE | 3 Sep
A SCOPING INQUIRY has reported that there were almost 2,400 allegations of sexual abuse of children in schools run by religious orders.
There were 844 alleged abusers in schools run by 42 religious orders across the country, according to the findings of senior counsel Mary O’Toole.
The allegations stretched across a total number of 308 schools.
O’Toole’s 700-page report looked at all schools previously or currently run by religious orders, and was not confined to any certain type of school, such as fee-paying ones.
There were 17 special schools among the findings and 590 allegations concerning special schools, with 190 alleged abusers.
Men aged in their 50s, 60s and 70s represented the majority of survivors who came forward to speak to the scoping inquiry and some said it was the first time they had spoken about the abuse.
The report says that over half of the alleged abusers are known to be deceased.
“The number of schools with allegations of historical sexual abuse shows that such allegations are not confined to schools in any particular geographic or social category,” the report says, but add that there are some schools with particularly high incidence of allegations.
The report says that many participants had no place or sense of safety in their schools or their lives as a result of their experiences of sexual abuse.
“Appalling childhood sexual abuse is described by participants and is reported as occurring in various locations including in classrooms, dormitories, sports facilities, and at musical and extracurricular activities,” the report says.
Some survivors reported being sexually abused in their own homes by adults linked to their school who had gained their family’s trust, only to abuse that trust “egregiously”.
Participants also described being sexually abused in the private offices and residential quarters of school staff and religious order members.
The report highlights how many spoke of being sexually abused in the presence of other children or adults, while others reported being sexually abused when alone with a teacher, priest or religious brother, other school staff or a visitor to their school.
For some, the sexual abuse had been ongoing, while for others it had occurred randomly or followed a period of grooming, and was often reported as having been accompanied by “ferocious violence”.
“Participants described being molested, stripped naked, raped and drugged amidst an atmosphere of terror and silence,” the report says.
“Many spoke of their strong belief that what was happening was so pervasive that it could not possibly have gone unnoticed by other staff, and the members and leadership of the
religious orders. Many participants were very clear in their belief that there had been
a cover-up in their schools or by the religious order and some believed there was
collusion between some institutions of the State and the Church.
“Participants spoke of their fear, shock and naivety about the sexual abuse when it occurred. They described how it evoked in them feelings of shame, responsibility, isolation, powerlessness and secrecy. Participants described trying to avoid the sexual abuse, avoiding their favourite activities, their friends and ultimately their school.
“As adults, participants said the impact of the sexual abuse led to serious and ongoing difficulties in relationships, mental and physical health problems, addiction issues, lost career opportunities, and damage to their sense of place and/or community.
“Many described failed early intimate relationships and marriage breakdowns. Some said that, as a result of the sexual abuse, they decided not to have children, or when they did, it impacted their parenting, with many participants describing the effects of intergenerational trauma on their families.
“Many spoke with very real sadness of the impact of telling their elderly parents of their experiences.”
The report was discussed by Cabinet earlier, which agreed to establish a statutory inquiry into the allegations.
It follows a Government scoping inquiry into sexual abuse at schools run by religious orders after many allegations were made about a number of schools two years ago.
Of the survivors who participated in the scoping inquiry, most left their home towns or villages as soon as they could to escape the memory of the abuse, and some had issues going to weddings and funerals because they did not feel comfortable in a church.
The scoping inquiry showed that in the main, it was overwhelmingly men who came forward and that information received from religious orders on their records indicate the majority of allegations came from male order run schools who ran boys’ schools.
The report noted that survivors in the main wanted to see the establishment of a statutory inquiry and a financial redress scheme.
It was also advised that the inquiry should investigate the handling of allegations, rather than looking at individual cases which would result in a lengthy and adversarial process.
This would look at what was known at the time, whether there were cover-ups and how allegations were addressed.
While survivors said the inquiry should be open to the media and public, many did not wish to give evidence in public.
A survivor-engagement programme is to be established to allow them to speak in a non-public manner.
It was also recommended that the Commission of Investigation look into all schools, and not just religious order run schools and that interim reports are advised to make the process as speedy as possible.
Meanwhile, financial redress was viewed by survivors as being part of accountability and that religious orders should pay for or contribute towards this.
It was recommended that consideration to this should be undertaken by Government.
Education Minister Norma Foley this afternoon announced that a Commission of Investigation will be established.
Education Minister Norma Foley has confirmed that a Commission of Investigation will be held into the 'truly shocking' levels of abuse at schools in Ireland pic.twitter.com/uSHopEbU1T
— Órla Ryan (@orlaryan) September 3, 2024
Many survivors interviewed for the report described a feeling of being a “spectator” and not a “participant” in their own life and of a “loss for the life they have not lived”.
A small number decided not to have children as they were not sure they could protect them from abusers, because they themselves had loving parents who could not protect them.
Survivors also said they had experienced some type of crises as a result and that the impact of the abuse had been “pervasive”.
A significant number also suffered from mental health conditions and drug and alcohol issues.
The allegations span from 1927 to 2013, but most allegations related to 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, with a sharp drop-off after this.
It’s also thought that the number of allegations could be higher than the 2,395 recorded and that the publishing of the report could result in more people coming forward.
Minister Foley added that the report states that current child protection measures in schools are “robust and effective”.
Taoiseach Simon Harris described the report as a “really harrowing read”.
Speaking to reporters, he said: “It is a shadow of our past that continues to loom large in so many lives, so many families, so many communities.”
He said it is “really important that we get this Commission right”.
“It’s really important that we get the terms of reference right and it’s really important we get the structure right and that the next steps that we take are absolutely survivor-centred.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin meanwhile described the “level and scale” of the abuse as “shocking” and added that “there must be full accountability and justice for those abused”.
Restore Together an advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse in Spiritan schools, said any statutory inquiry “must be structured to reflect the urgency of the situation” and put “the best interests of victims/survivors first”.
The scoping inquiry was set up after it emerged in late 2022, following an RTÉ radio documentary, that 233 people had made allegations of abuse against 77 Irish Spiritans in ministries throughout Ireland and abroad.
Of those, 57 people alleged they were abused on the Blackrock College campus in Dublin.
The leader of the Spiritans in Ireland, Father Martin Kelly, issued an apology in November 2022 to all victims on behalf of the order.
Survivors spoke out, eloquently and emotionally, on Liveline today. They again shared their experiences, with some wondering why there hasn’t been a judicial process for alleged perpetrators who are still alive.
Restore Together said in July it had at that point supported close to 300 people who reported instances of being abused by lay staff members and clergy at Spiritan schools.
It said the vast majority of incidents occurred at the private Catholic secondary school Blackrock College and its feeder school Willow Park Junior School.
The Spiritans are sometimes referred to as the Congregation of the Holy Spirit.
Restore Together today wrote to Minister Foley expressing concerns that any statutory inquiry “could result in yet further delays to urgently needed justice and redress for victims/survivors whose suffering continues daily, decades after they were abused”.
A statement issued on behalf of the group said: “It is already fully accepted by the Spiritan and other religious orders that widespread abuse took place over a long-time frame affecting hundreds of children, who are now adults, and that they must receive justice and redress.”
Restore Together said any statutory inquiry “must be structured to reflect the urgency of the situation, putting the best interests of victims/survivors first”.
“This could be partially achieved by the concurrent operation of parallel strands of any inquiry aimed at providing healing, redress and justice to victims/survivors without any further delay.
“In addition, no action by our Government should inadvertently provide cover that enables religious orders to further delay justice and healing urgently needed by victims/ survivors who have carried their burden for decades already.
“Restorative Justice or similar support programmes already in operation or under negotiation, including the provision of financial redress, with the various religious congregations must not be limited, set back or delayed in any way by the establishment by the Government of a statutory inquiry,” the statement adds.
Contains reporting by Órla Ryan, Eoghan Dalton and Lauren Boland.
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