The findings of a report into decades of sexual abuse in Catholic schools in Ireland were described on Tuesday (September 3) as “shocking” by the government, and will lead to the opening of a commission of inquiry. This report commissioned by the Irish government reports some 2,400 accusations of sexual violence since the 1970s, reported to religious orders running more than 300 schools in the country.
Education Minister Norma Foley said this finding “deeply shocking” and felt that it showed for the first time the extent of violence in the Irish Catholic education system. Praising the courage of the victims who testified, Prime Minister Simon Harris regretted that this violence constitutes “a shadow of the past that continues to weigh on so many lives, so many families, so many communities”. He said the government “would do things well” to follow up on the findings of this preliminary report, focusing its approach on victims.
The body representing Catholic orders in Ireland has apologised, saying: “deeply sorry” that students may have been victims of sexual violence in its establishments, and promising to “fully cooperate”The charges are against a total of 884 people who worked in schools or boarding schools run at the time or still run today by religious orders. The oldest date back to the 1970s and the most recent to 2023. According to the report, half of the alleged attackers are now dead.
The scale of this violence is shocking, as is the number of alleged attackers.”
Irish Education Minister Norma Foley
“The scale of this violence is shocking, as is the number of alleged attackers.”Norma Foley told reporters in Dublin. This report “preliminary” must now lead to the creation of a real commission of inquiry into the subject, it was announced. Its authors explained that they had directly contacted 73 religious orders which ran or still run Catholic schools in Ireland. Among them, 42 had archives containing accusations of sexual assault and violence.
The inquiry was commissioned after a television documentary revealed past allegations of sexual abuse at a Dublin school. It will focus only on schools run by Catholic institutions, but could be expanded to include other types of schools in the future.
Related News :