A prior journalist for RTÉ has presented evidence to a State inquiry, asserting that Dr Donie Ormonde, a former Waterford TD, was requested to assist in stifling media discussion concerning convicted child molester, Bill Kenneally. Damien Tiernan chastised the Commission of Investigation, insisting that his claims were unmistakably factual and not fabricated.
The inquiry for Kenneally’s case will entertain testimonies from the ex-sports coach and known Fianna Fáil tabulator for the first time the following Tuesday. The commission aims to decipher the reactions of State and other official bodies to the accusations targeted at Kenneally, who confessed to many child sexual abuse instances in Waterford on two separate occasions, once in 2015 and again in 2022.
Currently incarcerated for abusing 15 minors from between 1979 and 1990, Kenneally, a 72-year-old from Laragh, Summerville Road, Waterford and a prominent member of the reputable Fianna Fáil clan, disputes these claims.
Earlier this year, Dr Ormonde conveyed to the commission that the claim made by Mr Tiernan, a former RTÉ southeast correspondent in 2016, stating he was asked to help quieten the media uproar about Kenneally by his uncle, Monsignor John Shine, was false.
Mr. Tiernan affirmed today that he had previously testified to the commission last September and desired to return to elucidate any ensuing issues. He believes his memory of the events is lucid. He has submitted to the commission, his manuscript notes of a discussion he held with Dr Ormonde in the parking area of the Tower Hotel in Waterford during March 2016.
Mr. Tiernan verified that during this meeting, the former TD revealed that Msgr Shine had contacted him in 2013, shortly following an Irish Times report on Kenneally, seeking his assistance in restraining some issues from media attention.
Mr. Tiernan declared that his meeting with Dr Ormonde was planned and he would not have carried his notebook if it was a random encounter. He highlighted that Dr. Ormonde’s testimony conflicted starkly with his notes and his distinct memory.
Mr. Tiernan recounted a memory of Donnie Ormonde informing him that Monsignor Shine had called, requesting if he could prevent a certain news from spreading in the media outlets. However, Ormonde couldn’t fulfil that request, so he affirmed to Mr. Tiernan. Never in his wildest imagination did Mr. Tiernan think he would be involved in such an unconventional situation. Mr Tiernan, a veteran and award-winning journalist, assured that an RTÉ documentary highlighting Kenneally’s case was never challenged or its research ever disputed.
Besides, after testifying in September, he updated Dr Ormonde via text about his mention in the commission. Dr. Ormonde, now rendered his services as a radiologist, acted as a Fianna Fáil TD for Waterford from 1982 till 1987 and as a senator from 1989 to 1993. He was also serving on the South Eastern Health Board and held the position of chairman at Havenwood Nursing Home in Waterford in past.
Earlier in the discussion, Waterford-based entrepreneur Tom Murphy said he and his wife were in complete shock when they learned in 2016 that their son Barry had been a victim of Kenneally’s abuse. Mr. Murphy recalled how he had caught a glimpse of Kenneally with a group of four or five youngsters, sans any sporting equipment, boarding his car on Saturday afternoons which seemed suspicious to him, and he wrote to Ernst & Young in Waterford around 1987, Kenneally’s workplace at that time.
Furthermore, Mr. Murphy made a formal complaint about Kenneally at the Waterford Garda station on a different occasion when he heard Kenneally was acquitted, despite facing allegations. His exact motive to approach the station was unclear in the beginning, but later he said it might be because he learned about a young boy becoming Kenneally’s prey and his family lodging a complaint with the gardaí. He was subsequently informed by the gardaí that the family opted not to proceed with the legal action.
Mr. Murphy confided in the commission, admitting his regret over prioritising his business affairs over familial responsibilities—an oversight causing him guilt even today.
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