NORTHERN IRELAND
RTE News
At its opening session in Banbridge Co Down this morning, the inquiry heard that the Norbertine Order priest abused hundreds of children over a period spanning several decades.
He was convicted of indecently assaulting 74 children in the Republic of Ireland and of indecently assaulting 43 others in Northern Ireland.
Some of the abuse took place in care homes run by religious orders.
In a written statement to the inquiry a representative of the Norbertine Order acknowledged that warning signs had surfaced prior to Brendan Smyth’s ordination in the 1940s and that he ought never to have been ordained to the priesthood.
The retired archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Sean Brady, is to give evidence on Thursday.
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