The abuse of children at institutions in the Republic of Ireland has been systematic and endemic. As a response to the growing awareness of child abuse in institutions, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern apologised to survivors of child abuse in 1999.

In 2009 the Cloyne report, the fourth report into abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland, after the diocese of Ferns report in 2005, the Ryan report detailing abuse in residential institutions in May 2009 and the Dublin Archdiocese report in November 2009, examined how allegations of sexual abuse of children in the diocese were dealt with by the church and state.

In July 2011, Taoiseach Enda Kenny expressed a view that the Cloyne report had ‘brought the Government, Irish Catholics and the Vatican to an unprecedented juncture’.

13/07/2011 BBC: Cloyne report – A detailed guide

Taoiseach Enda Kenny: Cloyne Report (20 July 2011)

Taoiseach Enda Kenny Apology Full Text
RTE News, 20 July 2011
Statement by the Taoiseach on the Dáil Motion on the report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne, in Dáil Éireann

Garda apologies for failure
Irish Times, 26 November 2009
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has apologised for An Garda Siochána’s failure to protect victims of clerical child sexual abuse

Dail Discusses Clerical Abuse with Apology
Dáil Éireann, Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Commission of Investigation Report in the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne: Motion

Vatican Response
Summary of the Response to Mr Eamon Gilmore, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland, concerning the Cloyne Report

Commentary on Taoiseach’s Apology
Catholic Herald, 21 July 2011
‘Enda Kenny’s attack on the Vatican reflects ferocious public anger’

Catholic Bishops Response
Links to responses by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference to the Cloyne Report

Statement by Cardinal Sean Brady in response to the Cloyne Report
Cardinal Seán Brady was Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland from 1996 until 2014, being elevated to the cardinalate in 2007

Cardinal Brady on Holy See and Government
3 September 2011
Cardinal Brady welcomes response of the Holy See to the Government regarding the Cloyne Report

Statement by Archbishop Dermot Clifford on the Cloyne Report
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, 2011
Statement by the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly Dermot Clifford, D.D.
Apostolic Administrator, Diocese of Cloyne

How Religious Orders are Responsible to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse
Alliance Support Group, 24 May 2009
Christian Brothers ran six industrial schools and were the largest provider of residential care for boys in the country. More allegations were made against this order than all of the other male orders combined

Revised guidelines, ‘Children First: The National Guidelines for the Protection of Children’ were put in place in 1999 with the aim of promoting best practice in protecting children from abuse. Additionally ‘The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse’ was established in 2000 with a mandate to investigate the extent of the abuse of children in institutions of the State. The investigation covered the period from 1936-1970. The Investigation Committee enquired into all institutions where more than 20 complaints of abuse were known.

In May 2009 the final Commission Report (the Ryan Report) was published. The Report documents survivors’ accounts of the abuse they suffered as children, in all 1090 men and women, in 216 schools and residential contexts, including Industrial and Reformatory Schools, Children’s Homes, hospitals, national and secondary schools, day and residential special needs schools, foster care. The witnesses to the Commission reported systematic abuse and cruelty, of being subjected to random and casual physical assault, in some instances resulting in severe injury. Nearly half of the witnesses reported casual or persistent sexual abuse. Emotional abuse such as lack of attachment, deprivation of family contact and humiliation was widespread. Eight hundred individuals were identified as abusers of the witnesses. Most significantly survivors were of the opinion that the abuse was widely known by those employed in the institutions and in the local community, yet nobody took any action to protect the children.
The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse
The Commission was established on 23 May, 2000, pursuant to the ‘Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000′

Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (pdf)
‘This Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children and the accompanying Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook set out clearly how child protection must be placed at the core of any organisation working with children’

Residential Institution Redress Board
The Redress Board was set up under the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 to make fair and reasonable awards to persons who, as children, were abused while resident in industrial schools, reformatories and other institutions subject to state regulation or inspection

10/06/2015 BBC News: Paedophile priests: Pope Francis set up tribunal
Pope Francis approves the creation of a tribunal to hear cases of bishops accused of covering up child abuse by paedophile priests.

The Commission’s Report made several recommendations. First, steps should be taken to alleviate or address the effects of the abuse on survivors. Second, measures were to be put in place to reduce instances of abuse of children and to protect children from abuse. Such measures would include a National childcare policy that was child-centred, and the adequacy of its mandate subject to periodical review. ‘Children First: The National Guidelines for the Protection of Children’ (pdf) should be consistently implemented in the Republic of Ireland in dealing with allegations of institutional abuse of children.

16/08/2011 Sydney Morning Herald: Irish PM lashes Vatican on child-abuse reparation
‘Ireland is squeezing the Catholic Church to hand over cash and real estate towards a €1.4 billion ($A1.9 billion) child-abuse bill amid the bitterest standoff yet seen between the Vatican and the government’
The publication of the report was followed by a series of apologies from the Catholic clergy for the harm caused to children in their schools and institutions. Nevertheless, further revelations of the extent child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy became known through the ‘Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin’ published in November 2009. The central aim of the investigation was to report on the handling by the Church and State authorities of allegations of sexual abuse. This was followed by the publication of the Cloyne Report in 2011. The Report documents serious failure on the part of senior clergy to implement Church procedures when handling allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Cloyne. While the Holy See deplored the harm caused to children in its institutional care by its clergy, it failed to offer an explicit apology to the survivors of the abuseSaving Childhood Ryan
Eight organisations concerned with child protection united to launch the Saving Childhood Ryan campaign on the first anniversary of the Ryan Report
Vatican Meets Victims
Pope meets sex abuse survivors in ‘profound spiritual encounter’[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_accordion][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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