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  Irish Church Abusers Should Face Law, McAleese Says

By Colm Heatley
Bloomberg
May 28, 2009

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aXyY5ndaxF3s&refer=uk

Members of Roman Catholic religious orders in Ireland implicated in abusing children in an official report published last week should face prosecution, Irish President Mary McAleese told RTE today.

"In so far as there are people still alive who are responsible for these criminal acts then surely part and parcel of the Ryan Report is, and should be, that they should be brought before the proper authorities," McAleese told the state broadcaster.

Child abuse was "endemic" in institutions including children's homes and so-called industrial schools run by religious orders in Ireland since the 1930s, according to the May 20 report by Judge Sean Ryan, who headed a committee that spent 10 years investigating the claims. While the panel didn't have the power to recommend prosecutions, victims have called for legal action.

"Wherever prosecutions are possible, they need to happen," Colm O'Gorman, founder of the abuse victims' group One in Four and director of Amnesty International Ireland, told Today FM radio in Dublin today. "If there are barriers to prosecution in law, those barriers need to be examined. Justice needs finally to be delivered."

Irish police today called for anyone with information about criminal behavior relating to the orders, as outlined in the Ryan report, to contact them.

'Fullest Cooperation'

Prime Minister Brian Cowen said May 26 that police would have the "fullest cooperation in pursuing any criminal investigation" arising from the report. The government is also pushing religious orders to pay "appropriate compensation" to victims and revisit a 2002 agreement that capped the compensation pool at 128 million euros ($178 million).

Ireland's parliament today unanimously passed a motion calling on the religious orders to make further substantial contributions to victims, RTE reported. The government wants part of the contributions to be paid into a state-run trust to support victims.

Yesterday the Conference of Religious of Ireland, which represents the orders, said "the possibility of making a further much larger contribution" to victims must be on the agenda. That statement followed an announcement by seven of the orders that they are willing to discuss ways to give further aid to victims.

The compensation bill may rise to 1.3 billion euros, newspapers including the Irish Times have reported.

More than 90 percent of witnesses who gave evidence to the judge's confidential committee reported being physically abused. Around half reported sexual abuse.

To contact the reporter on this story: Colm Heatley in Belfast at cheatley@bloomberg.net

 
 

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