Almost 2,400 allegations of sexual abuse made in 308 schools run by religious orders and spanning a 30-year period have been disclosed to a Government-appointed inquiry, a damning report published on Tuesday revealed.
In the scoping inquiry’s report, which detailed a systemic culture of abuse in religious-run day and boarding schools throughout the country, 2,395 allegations of abuse were reported against 884 people. Of those accused of abuse, less than half are still alive, according to the report.
It is likely that the true number of allegations made is much higher, the report noted, given the level of underreporting of childhood sexual abuse.
The inquiry also revealed that a high number of allegations are concentrated in special education schools, where there were 590 allegations recorded in 17 institutions involving 190 alleged abusers.
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Harrowing testimony included in the report details various instances of abuse in graphic detail, and reveals how those instances had a devastating and lasting impact of those who were preyed upon while at school.
“Many said that their childhood stopped the day the abuse started,” the report stated.
The scoping inquiry received information questionnaires from 205 survivors, mostly men, with more than 80 schools run by 24 religious orders named by the participants. Most incidents of abuse took place between the early 1960s and early 1990s, with the highest number of reported incidents occurring in the early to mid-1970s.
Respondents to the questionnaire described being “molested, stripped naked, raped and drugged amid an atmosphere of terror and silence”, the report said.
Participants in the inquiry spoke of how the abuse evoked “feelings of shame, responsibility, isolation, powerlessness and secrecy”. Abuse in childhood led to lifelong estrangement or difficult relationships between survivors and their families, as well as mental health difficulties, the report noted.
The report noted how some participants believed that, given how pervasive abuse in schools was, that State and Church institutions were colluding to implement cover-ups of abuse.
The Government last year commissioned senior counsel Mary O’Toole to carry out the report when several survivors came forward with allegations of abuse endured during their schooling at Blackrock College in South Dublin.
A total of 185 allegations of abuse at schools run by the Spiritan congregation in Blackrock were disclosed to the inquiry. Some 130 allegations of abuse were reported at Willow Park Junior School against 24 alleged abusers, while 55 allegations of abuse were disclosed against 13 alleged abusers at its post-primary counterpart Blackrock College.
Lota, a special school run by the Brothers of Charity in Glanmire, Co Cork, saw 166 allegations of abuse against 50 alleged abusers, the highest number of allegations made at any one school.
Amri, the representative body of many of the orders included in the scoping report, has said it is “deeply sorry” at the abuse experienced in religious-run schools. It said it would examine the recommendations and respond accordingly.
Off the back of the report, Minister for Education Norma Foley announced that the Government would launch a Commission of Investigation to examine historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders. It is understood that a sitting or retired judge will be likely to chair the commission.
The Minister also acknowledged the report’s recommendation that Government consider a financial redress scheme for abuse survivors, although Ms Foley did not on Tuesday make any commitment to establishing such a scheme.
However, there is a determination in Government, according to people involved in the discussions, that religious orders will make substantial contributions to the eventual cost of redress. There is also an understanding that some orders in the past made minimal contributions to the cost of compensating victims, and a strong belief that this should not be allowed to happen again.
Ms O’Toole, who led the scoping inquiry, said the descriptions of the abuse outlined in her 700-page report makes for “distressing, often harrowing, reading”. She paid tribute to the survivors for their “courage and fortitude” in coming forward.
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