By MAEVE SHEEHAN
The Sunday Independent, Sunday January 17 2010
GARDAI (Irish Police) have stepped up an investigation into whether members of the
force or the clergy broke the law in protecting child sexual abusers.
A dedicated team of detectives working under an assistant garda
commissioner, John O’Mahony, is preparing to interview up to
half-a-dozen members of the force whose actions were criticised in Judge
Yvonne Murphy’s report on child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese. It is
understood that some individuals have already been interviewed but it is
not clear whether these are priests or former members of the force.
The report is not only focusing on gardai but also on the actions of
priests and clergy to see if there is evidence that they failed to act
in relation to a criminal act.
Those who are expected to be interviewed include the retired Cardinal
Desmond Connell and the retired chief superintendents Maurice O’Connor
and Joe McGovern. There have already been calls from victims groups that
Cardinal Connell be prosecuted.
Mr O’Connor was criticised in the report for having “inappropriate
dealings” with Bishop James Kavanagh, at a time when the paedophile Fr
Bill Carney, was investigated for indecent assault. The report found
that Bishop Kavanagh tried to influence the investigation but was
unsuccessful. Fr Carney was convicted because “lower-ranking gardai had
done their job properly”. The report said Chief Superintendent O’Connor
could not take credit for that.
Mr McGovern is criticised in the case of another priest, Fr X, who is
not named in the report. The report found that two gardai failed to take
notes when interviewing the priest about child sexual abuse allegations.
When the priest later made limited admissions to the then-Chief
Superintendent McGovern, the garda told his priest rather than
investigating gardai. Other gardai who investigated Fr X were also
criticised but not named by Judge Murphy, who concluded that the
“connivance” of gardai in stifling one complaint and failing to
investigate another was shocking.
“It is noteworthy that the Commission would not have been aware of the
garda activity in question were it not for the information contained in
the Church files,” the report noted.
Other gardai who were criticised have since died.
The report is expected to take several months to complete and then it
will be given to Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy.
He will decide whether the report should be forwarded to the DPP.
Justice minister Dermot Ahern said that under current legislation,
anyone who knowingly failed to protect children from paedophiles is
guilty of an offence.
– MAEVE SHEEHAN
My impression of Garda investigation is not good especially coming from abroad where this type of crime is well resourced and unpolluted by church tactics and thoroughly investigated.
In recent years, I (had to) meet this retired detective at night on a bog road in the Midlands to discuss a case. He described to me a case in the early seventies where he was designated as part of an undercover team to monitor a roving gang of paedophile priests who were going from youth disco to youth disco attacking children. He described being undercover in about 1977 in a Midlands town outside a GAA youth disco having followed this bunch of priest for months.
Turns out, totally unrelated, I was in the same hall at the time (having been taken for a week and left for dead several years earlier by a similar gang.) Anyway, coming out of the disco in 77, I noticed an unmarked squad car (everyone knew the ‘unmarked squad car’) several ‘plain clothes’ gardai. The priests were inside the hall still and the lads told me they were asking strange questions and bringing them into the jax and asking would they ‘do things’.
You know the scene, GAA hall, lemonade bottles,teenagers, priests knocking around but strange ones this time)Turns out the Sergeants son had been raped by one of the priests. They (priests) specialised in Connemara and Galway but were on a more extended field trip to the Midlands that night. They had got the loan of a car somehow. they had told the lads this.
Anyway going back to my night time rendezvous with the former detective in recent years, he told me he had been abused as child, that his colleague was abused and that his son was raped by that gang of priests above. They prepared a file for the DPP and sent in it to arrest those priests but it was rejected and nothing happened (of course). He accepted that as a routine path of Irish justice.
That’s how far Gardai got with their prosecution file, just about as fucking far as the DPP. Who was the DPP’s boss?.
Its ‘little stuff’ like this that determines whether a child will live in horror on the streets of london or as a healthy fully participating member of life in full health, perhaps even happily in his own town. Church knows, Irish DPP knowns, ‘my job is worth more than your life, you child’ mentality.
Anyway, here is the rub. The same Garda described another case to me of a reject priest who became a teacher pedo, (my teacher), about 30 statements given against him, eventual conviction and prison for a few years, more stuff to come!! Lets say, Its a work in progress., i’m pleased to participate.
Thing is, Gardia were fully aware of this stuff goiing on in 70’s or at least groups of them who were not so innocent. And thats how far they got, DPP. Even as state Gardai, they could not even get their own son’s case past the DPP because of blocking by DPP
Good people were trying their best for their loved ones but getting nowhere 40 years ago because the power of the church was all pervasive and could result in total destruction of an adult life to protect a terrible secret even a ‘state’ adult at the highest level.
Have no doubt about the nature of the enemy, it is the most sinister and dangerous human criminal force that can be encountered. The Irish Roman Catholic Church instructed by Ratzinger was providing a basis for Irish children to be raped and abused on an onging basis, perhaps(as Gardai have told me a few weeks ago) even right now.
So who has been running Ireland for past 70 years and to what agenda. The reality is that the major force has been RCC to an ideological religious/criminal agenda.
Ireland has not been a republic or citizens nation. It has been a playground for religious ideologists and criminal elements from the rich and paedophile and the foreign interest. That’s what De-Valera and Mcaid imported.
It not mainstream Europe so the by products of European ideologies can use it as a waste/play ground. Orange and Roman, time to stop. get out.
That not good enough. Irish people should not accept this sideline and abuse. Time to stop it and call Ratzingers bluff.
Gospel of Christ
RB
Germany
Also the HSE for recent collusion in known abuse cases, where they aided and abetted the child abuser.
I wrote to Dermot Ahern, but he had a way out of course citing “family law”.
Now the Mafia refer to themselves as the Family.??? Just wondering.