The recent investigatory report on Tuesday put forth 2,395 abuse assertions in schools involving 884 alleged injustices. The probe, spearheaded by top barrister Mary O’Toole, covers 308 educational establishments connected to 42 religious organisations from 69 that run Irish schools.
It became clear from the investigation that almost 25% of the abuse accusations, numbering roughly 590, were centred on seventeen schools that provided education for special needs children. The report was primarily initiated due to reports surfacing regarding child sex abuse in educational establishments run by religious bodies. These events were notably connected to Blackrock College in southern Co Dublin, which was under Spiritan management. This hints at a possibility that the reported allegations could merely represent the initial glimpses into the actual magnitude of abuse victims in Irish educational bodies.
The issues around compensation and the absolute numbers involved are being brought up. In 2009, a probe into child abuse studied 215 children’s residential establishments overseen by 18 religious organisations. Alongside the probe, an independent payment board provided payments of €1.3 billion, each averaging at €62,000, to a total number of 15,579 individuals.
The report from the current week advises a Commission of Investigation be instituted, and contemplates extending the newly set Commission’s purview to include all types of schools.
The challenge at hand should not be disregarded given Ireland has around 760 secondary schools and 3,300 primary schools. The potential figures of victimised people are astonishing.
The 2022 Sexual Violence Survey carried out by Central Statistics Office also indicates at pronounced underreporting level of childhood sexual violence, particularly by men. The overall rate for men is shown to be 25%, while for adults aged above 45 years, the rate is roughly 40-42%. For individuals aged above 35 years, an estimated 15,300 men and 26,000 women are anticipated to have encountered sexual violence as a child within a school setting.
The release of the report is predicted to inspire a greater number of individuals to publicly share their personal experiences. One exemplar is “Patrick”, though not his birth name, a man entering his 50s. He’s chosen to remain anonymous as not all his family members are cognisant of his past distress, and he wishes to guard them.
His journey began at the age of 13, as he sought to obtain a certificate demonstrating his ability to swim while fully dressed for a planned sailing course. His PE master, Br Gall from Blackrock College, offered to assist him during their Wednesday PE sessions. “I had additional clothing in my PE kit – an old tracksuit, an extra top, and worn-out trainers – planned to be worn for the pool laps,” Patrick recalls.
Br Gall, as described by Patrick was in his middle-age, a bald man with spectacles, always seemed to be dressed in a tracksuit. He took Patrick to his office at the poolside, initiating the session with stretching exercises. Patrick, sexually naieve at that time, didn’t perceive anything other than a strange instruction from his abbey.
Being an active rugby player, stretching was no novelty for Patrick. However, his teacher insisted on it so he complied. He recounts, “In my conventional 1980s speedos, I puzzled why this man was compelling me to stretch”. With Br Gall behind him in a chair, the stretching took on an odd direction, confounding Patrick.
This peculiar situation repeated the next week. “The most disturbing part was when I perceived his hands on my waist and a rigid sensation pressing into my back,” shares Patrick. “I was baffled and unable to comprehend what was transpiring”. Post this incident, Patrick recollects being unjustly declared the winner of a swimming race, leading to taunts from his peers linking him to Br Gall.
In a moment of pure awkwardness, Patrick unexpectedly found himself in a compromising position when a fellow classmate stumbled upon him. A sudden flare of discomfort spread across the classmate’s face, morphing from surprise, to shock, and finally embarrassment before he stammered out an apology and promptly fled the scene. Recognising the incident as an accidental intrusion, Patrick’s instructor, Brother Gaul, swiftly called it a day.
The ensuing week brought with it a swimming competition. Patrick was a skilled swimmer, albeit outmatched by two of his classmates. As they reached the finishing lap, the two more adept swimmers completed the race in swift succession before Patrick could catch up. To his utter disbelief, Brother Gaul announced an inaccurate ranking, declaring Patrick as the winner, and relegated the true champions to second and third place. The incredulity and outrage on the winner’s face were etched into Patrick’s memory.
In the locker room aftermath, the displaced champion angrily confronted Patrick, accusing him of favouritism at the hands of Brother Gaul. The runner-up followed suit with similar condemnations. The hostility bred from this unjust incident affected Patrick profoundly, taking a toll on his standing amongst his peers. He swiftly became the target of incessant bullying which impinged his confidence and self-esteem. Patrick opted to steer clear of Brother Gaul due to associated negativity.
Mercifully, Patrick’s family relocated from Dublin in the subsequent three months due to his father’s job, which enabled a fresh start in a new city. Here, he found himself in a different rugby school, but the past had already left its indelible mark. The unjust incident had caused a distinct division in Patrick’s life story into a ‘before’ and ‘after’, and transformed him in ways that were irreversible. A once self-assured lad was now grappling with self-doubt and a dent in his self-worth.
From the outside looking in, many saw him as admirable. His peers remember him as an endearing figure: affable, good-humoured, attractive, intelligent, and a noteworthy amour of rugby. But Patrick’s personal account tells a different story. Rugby, he says, was his lifeline throughout secondary school. His interest in girls was notable but his courage to pursue the ones he fancied was lacking. He would only respond affirmatively to those girls who had the guts to approach him. He compared himself to Chandler Bing from the popular series ‘Friends,’ constantly severing relationships for no apparent reason. He jokingly remarks that if self-sabotage were a university course, he’d have a distinguished position at MIT.
He admits that his academic performances, especially in his Inter Cert (now known as the Junior Cert), were far from impressive. He found consolation in his rugby achievements, attributing the lacklustre grades to his need to secure a spot on the team. Their team did enjoy some success. His recollection of receiving an anonymous, yet beautifully crafted Valentine’s Day card at 16, which he attributed to a practical joke from mates, speaks towards his self-worth issues. He never discovered its origin.
In the ensuing years, he faced a string of personal crises, including drug abuse, suicidal thoughts, and two unsuccessful marriages. He opens up about his obsession with self-destruction. Despite career success, he admits to an innate indifference towards it.
He was first diagnosed with severe depression at 17, which was also the year of his first suicide attempt; the second came in his mid-30s. It wasn’t until after the latter that he first spoke of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Br Gall during a therapy session. The connection between the abuse and his struggles became clear to him more than two decades later.
In recent times, he found the restorative justice program at Blackrock incredibly beneficial and admired the understanding nature of the scoping inquiry team. He confessed that this week’s report made for difficult reading. Despite the difficult years, he considered himself fortunate and doubted his ability to endure more of the tribulations he faced during his latter months at Rock.
Chris Doris, whilst unfortunate to have suffered abuse during the 1970s at Willow Park, Blackrock, needed approximately 800 therapeutic sessions to recuperate. Today, he sees himself as largely healed due, in part, to his solid bond with his life partner and best friend, Rachel, of over four decades.
His story involves three culprits, all now deceased: Br Luke McCaffrey, Fr Aloysius Flood, and Fr Senan Corry. The most horrific event was when he was drugged with a substance similar to chloroform by Flood and another unidentified priest, before Flood sexually assaulted him. Moreover, an ex-pupil of Willow Park conveyed a similar occurrence, where Flood expressed confidence that the boy wouldn’t recall the incident.
Looking back on these allegations and the responses received, Doris feels the church’s reaction lacks Christian morals and has only intensified survivors’ pain while causing its own downfall.
Doris is advocating for a non-confrontational probe, prompt and fair financial compensation to finally address and remove the traces of clerical horror that still haunt many families.
He is astounded by the human tendency to cause harm to children and then disregard it.
Mark Vincent Healy, a prominent representative for abuse survivors, himself fell victim to abuse at St Mary’s College Rathmines by Spiritan priest Fr Henry Moloney, who has since been defrocked. Moloney was found guilty of these charges in 2009.
Healy articulated that the findings of the preliminary investigation are appalling and also worryingly overdue. Abuse survivors in Ireland are still barred from lawful compensation from the state, as ordered by the European Court of Human Rights, as highlighted in the case of Louise O’Keefe, a Cork woman who successfully filed a lawsuit against the state for its failure to shield her from abuse she encountered in a primary school during the 1970s in west Cork.
Healy firmly asserts that this must change, as the clock is ticking for survivors awaiting exploration and compensation.
Healy remarks that this week also signifies the eighth remembrance of Pat Ryan, the father to Mark and David. Both siblings participated in the pioneering RTÉ radio I documentary, “Blackrock Boys,” which aired in November 2022 and instigated the scoping inquiry. Healy characterizes Pat Ryan as a cherished friend who frequently met with him. Healy expresses that Pat’s heart was shattered, yet he remains confident that Pat would find solace in the impending day of judgement. He anticipates this will bring some ease to Pat’s spirit. Meanwhile, the first year since Mark Ryan’s passing will be marked on the 21st of September.