Commission to examine handling of abuse allegations in Offaly schools

The handling of allegations of historical sexual abuse at schools, including schools run by five religious orders in Offaly, is to be examined by a new Commission of Investigation announced by the Government.

Education Minister Helen McEntee this month confirmed the establishment of the commission, which is to investigate historical sexual abuse in all day and boarding schools, and will be chaired by High Court judge Mr Justice Michael MacGrath.

The establishment of the commission follows the publication last September of a scoping inquiry into historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders,

The scoping inquiry's report outlined allegations of abuse in Offaly spread throughout the county, with schools in Clara, Ferbane, Tullamore and Birr each the subject of a number of allegations.

The Offaly school which was the subject of the largest number of allegations was St Anthony's College in Clara, run by the Franciscan brothers. The school was the site of eleven abuse allegations involving seven different alleged abusers.

In Ferbane, Scoil Mhuire Primary School in Ferbane, operated by the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny, was the site of three allegations against three alleged abusers.

Similarly, there were three allegations against three alleged abusers at the Presentation Brothers' St Brendan's National School in Birr.

The Christian Brothers were the subject of abuse allegations at both the Tullamore CBS primary and Tullamore CBS secondary schools. There was one alleged abuser at each of the two schools.

There were a further two allegations against one alleged abuser at Portarlington's Christian Brothers primary school.

Also in Portarlington, Colaiste Isogain Secondary School, operated by the Congregation of the Presentation Sisters, was reported to be the site of three abuse allegations involving three alleged abusers.

The report also said there had been 44 allegations of abuse, by 33 alleged abusers, in schools operated by the congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, but a breakdown of individual Sisters of Mercy schools was not listed.

The main source of the report's information on the sexual abuse allegations was data provided by the religious orders and schools themselves.

Announcing the establishment of the Commission of Investigation, on July 8, Minister McEntee said: "The revelations of the report of the scoping inquiry were devastating, and the survivors’ accounts of their experiences have had a profound impact. It is clear that survivors want accountability."

She said the new commission "will have a remit to examine the handling of sexual abuse in all types of schools, which was a wish expressed by many survivors".

Minister McEntee went on to say that the commission would undertake preliminary work over the coming months and that it will seek "initial expressions of interest from people who may wish to provide information to it" in due course.

She added that work to assess the funding of any potential redress scheme for survivors of sexual abuse in schools would take place in tandem with the work of the commission.

"Further work is being done to examine the matter of financial redress, and how any future scheme could be funded," said Minister McEntee.

"This is important to many survivors, that it is viewed as a measure of accountability for those responsible for sexual abuse in schools, and it is important to get this right. All potential levers that can be brought to bear to secure funding from those responsible for sexual abuse in schools must be considered.

"This is why Government have today agreed to carry out additional work in this area, in parallel with the work of the commission," Minister McEntee stated.

The scoping inquiry cited some 2,395 allegations of historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders, involving 884 alleged abusers in 308 schools across the country, between the years 1927 and 2013.