John Downes, News Investigations Correspondent The Sunday Tribune
The founder of the Cuan Mhuire centre in Athy, which treats vulnerable people with drug and alcohol problems, has defended its decision to allow the former Mercy nun Nora Wall to continue to work there despite the findings of the Ryan report in relation to her.
The report said that Wall – given the pseudonym St Callida in the report when it was published 12 months ago – beat children in her care, and exposed them to “additional risk” by allowing male outsiders to stay overnight at St Michael’s home in Cappoquin, Co Waterford.
It also highlighted how she engaged in lesbian relationships while in charge at the centre, would consume alcohol to excess in front of the children, and would take children away for weekends to stay in hotel “family rooms”.
According to one of those interviewed in the report, she and her female partner would typically share one bed while the children would share other beds in the same room.
Nora Wall formerly of St. Michael's Industrial School, Cappoquin - accused of abuse in The Ryan Report
Sr Consilio Fitzgerald, founder of the internationally respected Cuan Mhuire group of treatment centres, told the Sunday Tribune that Wall is employed as a full-time gardener at Cuan Mhuire in Athy.
Set on 49 acres of land, the centre’s land and the cultivation of its produce is a “central part of the rehabilitation programme,” its website states.
But Fitzgerald said she was not aware of the Ryan report’s concerns in relation to Wall’s time at Cappoquin, adding that she was “very happy” with her work at Cuan Mhuire.
“Nora Wall gets up every morning and gets on with her gardening. She keeps quite busy,” she said. “I never considered changing her role. She gets up and gets on with it. She’s helping with our preparations here. She just works in the garden on her own. She has her work to do and does it faithfully and does it very well here.”
Former Cappoquin resident Gerry Kelly, who was sexually and physically abused at the Artane Industrial School.
But he said he was “ostracised” in Cappoquin after he tried to raise his concerns. This included going public in 1999 with his claim that when he returned to the centre as an adult in 1979, Wall – who went by the name Sr Dominic – invited him to join her and another nun in bed together.
“I couldn’t have made that up. Why would you make something like that up?” he told the Sunday Tribune. Kelly suffered a stroke seven years ago which he attributes to the stress of his childhood experiences.
Wall, who is in her early 60s, had her conviction for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in the same home declared a miscarriage of justice by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 2005 after it emerged that evidence had been given by a witness known to be unreliable.
She has since launched a High Court challenge to the alleged refusal of the state to make a decision on her claim for compensation over a miscarriage of justice in her case.
May 23, 2010
I don’t know why people are bashing sister agnus and sister concileo, they have given children back there parents, saved thousands of lives, and devoted there life’s to saving people, they have houses all over the country with recovering addicted as well as the treatment centres, so the have a nun who is suspected of nasty stuff well she should be jailed that’s the states job and if she’s not locked up what is she to do? Hang her self no so she’s gardening away from the world. Some people can’t see how good these Fitzgerald sisters are there saints, so lay off.
Hi paddy I’m so happy i found this page, i witnessed a number of assaults on vunruble people by staff, i seen so much in athy and bruree staff drinking and allowed to counsel people 2 weeks later these people are not qualified in any field of addiction just angry henchmen for sister consillio and her sister Agnes Fitzgerald who runs bruree, i seen lies by them nuns and anger, it’s more of a work camp and hostile environment i got no help for my addiction, people were having sex with other residents and if they were caught the female got thrown out not the male i don’t know why, i also witnessed a member of staff leave with a married woman and come back weeks later drunk and allowed to counsel people again, it’s just not a nice place i was very nervous there, i just wanted to say i know the 2 nuns lie to many people the whole place is a lie, thanks
Nora wall was proven iInnocent…is it right that the to girls who made statement against Nora is walking free no charged was brought against them also the killenny garda who had took statements from Patricia on a number of occasion… One man ended up on the forecourt before all charges was dropped and the charges was also droped against the other man…The kilkenny Garda had all this information they knew that the witness was not reliable Garda Luke Kelly was involved with all this cases and failed to inform the DPP on one of Ireland biggest cases…
Margaret, St. Michael’s in what county? Paddy.
Steady on there Andrew!! The poor nuns or is that ex-nuns are to busy doing the garden to have time to “help the police with their inquiries”. You’re a hard man! What ever happened to sympathy? :-)
A translation of ‘Cuan Mhuire’ means Harbour of the Blessed Virgin Mary ! Perhaps they should change it now to Cuan Callida!
The Ryan Report was explicit in it’s condemnation of Sister Callida … it listed the abuses … and yet we have no prosecution … not even a report that she’s ‘helping the police with their inquiries’.
Instead she’s helping the nuns with their peonies. !
Who in their right mind (drunk or sober) would trust a nun/priest, whether an alcoholic or tee-taller themselves, to “cure” them? The only person who can cure any addict is the addict him/herself – with a little help from a friend.
The vast majority of nuns or priests (ie., RC clerics, male or female) are no friends of Humanity. From my experience, they belong to a different category of species.
Sr. Consillio and Nora Wall (aka Sr. Dominic) are two sides of the same coin.
Hi:
Is she there as a recovering alcoholic or a registered full time employee?
I seem to remember, some years back that I was told that Sr.Consilio was banned from staying overnight inside the Diocese of Galway by the then Bishop,E. Casey
A second story also was circulating (about 2/3 years after her centre opened that her organisation had been banned from Lourdes, due to, as I understand, the behaviour of some representatives who had been taken there.
I met Sr. Consilio on one occasion during a visit to her centre in Athy. I was running a centre for recovering alcoholics in Dublin.
The trip was interesting as apparently unknown to her, we had a mutual client, John the “Plumber”.
He had returned to our centre after having spent, I think 2/3 weeks in Athy and was very critical of the treatment he had received and reported “having had his head banged off the Wall”.
When I inquired of him why this had happened, he told me that once it was known that he had a trade, he was asked to provide work in the centre. He informed Sr. Consilio that he had no tools ( about 30.00 – the social welfare payment at that time was 6.25). He was then given money to buy the necessary tools and driven into Athy.
Of course, John’s first thought was to lose his caretaker and once loose in Athy, he, at his own admission, managed to disappear into a friendly pub where he spent all the money he had been given on drink, returning only when all was gone.
After the assault that he said he had received, for spending this money, John returned to Dublin. He returned only a few days before my intended visit.
When I went to Athy, I can remember asking Sr. Consilio what sort of success rate had she had in the short/ medium term with those in her care. Her reply was very succinct. She stated to me categorically that no one leaves here without being cured ( God’s work). When I mentioned that I understood that John the Plumber had gone to Athy ” for the cure”, she simply stopped the conversation and left.
I, by then, having seen and heard enough, left for Dublin.
MM
Well, it goes to show that nothing has changed- the men and women of god are free to do as they please and are at all times above Common Law.
Perhaps if you could be a bit more specific with regard to dates etc someone might well be able to help. I was in Cappoquin and I just might be able to help. I’m not making any promises.
Paddy.
Does anyone know what happened to Davy from Cappoquin? The reason I ask is that he claimed he was molested by a well known person in Cappoquin! Anybody have a clue on this one?
Is it safe to leave such a potentially dangerous person free to go wherever she wants . Who knows when there is no one there to see what she does . After all she is alone most of the time. many nuns are well known to lie. So its risky. protection for the people there could come first