Evidence Against

Laffoy Valedictory Report

2008-08-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Dismal Dull Affairs

2008-02-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

Ventilator

2008-02-23T11:40:00.000-08:00

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McQuiad

2008-02-05T10:59:00.001-08:00

Blind & Dumb

2008-01-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Rotweiler

2008-01-11T14:03:00.001-08:00

This Is A Dog That Bites !

Dáil Éireann Volume 78 29 February, 1940

2007-10-18T02:22:00.000-07:00

Dáil Éireann Volume 78 29 February, 1940
Committee on Finance. Vote 50—Reformatory and Industrial Schools

Eamon de Valera: I move:— Go ndeontar suim Bhreise ná raghaidh thar £520 chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1940, chun costaisí mar gheall ar Scoileanna Ceartúcháin agus Saothair, maraon le hAiteanna Coinneála (8 Edw. VII, c. 67; Uimh. 17 de 1926; agus Uimh. 24 de 1929). [[[That a Supplementary Sum not exceeding £520 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1940, for Expenses in connection with Reformatory and Industrial Schools, including Places of Detention (8 Edw. VII, c. 67; No. 17 of 1926; and No. 24 of 1929).]]]

Mr. Dillon: Is that all you are going to say about it?

Eamon de Valera: Oh, no. In the first place it would not be at all right if we did not give the Deputy an opportunity of speaking on the matter. I know he is interested in this matter, and I am very glad that he is. In regard to the first item shown in the details of the Estimate, £100 for reformatory schools, I might explain that the original Estimate in respect of these schools was £4,960. It is now estimated that we require £5,060, the difference being due to additional committals beyond those anticipated when the original Estimate was framed. In the case of the industrial schools, an extra sum of £1,300 is required. This is also due to a greater number of committals than was anticipated. There are savings shown in the Appropriations-in-Aid which lessen the total by £850, leaving a net sum of £520 which I ask the Dáil to grant. I could give figures in regard to the numbers in detention in these schools but I do not think it is necessary for me at this stage to say more than that these sums of £100 and £1,300 are due to the fact that a greater number of boys are in detention than was anticipated when the original Estimate was framed.

Mr. Dillon: This is a very important matter. In regard to matters of education I have high hopes of the Minister. Whether they are going to be dashed or not I do not know. I have said on more than one occasion that one of the principal functions of a public man is to regard himself as a trustee of the poor. The children who are going to these schools are the children of the poor. I suggest to the Minister, more especially when he is bringing in a Supplementary Estimate to provide for additional committals to these schools, that he should regard it as part of his duty constantly to review committals to these schools and reformatories, with a view to seeing whether they are being done in the best interests of the children. We are not here dealing with criminals. There is no element of retribution about the committal of these children. The committal is done exclusively for the purpose of providing the children with the best prospects of normal, healthy development, and that function much more properly belongs to the Minister for Education. That is why I am concerned more with the welfare of children than with any police magistrate in this city. I am not asking the Minister by his action to imply any rebuke or reproof or repudiation of the magistrate concerned in the administration of juvenile criminal justice, but I am asking him to watch each of these children as though he were himself a trustee for them. They have nobody else to protect them. Their parents are simple people, most of them not knowing that they have a right of appeal in these cases, to a superior court, if they are dissatisfied with the verdict of the court of summary jurisdiction. Many children are carried off to these institutions and the parents do not know that they have a right of appeal. They do not know how to go about it, so that the Minister as their trustee has a heavy responsibility on him, not only to satisfy himself that the children are properly treated in these institutions, but that each individual child committed is having its own best interests served by continued detention there. If he is not satisfied that that is so, then it is his clear duty, in my submission, to exercise his power and to release these children to their parents at once. I can say with reverence that he is not entitled to abrogate to himself the right to improve on Divine dispensations, and if there is a doubt as to whether the children would be better off with their parents or in the schools, then they should be given back to the parents. The doubt should be interpreted in every case in favour of returning the children to the parents. If the Minister does that there will be failures and disappointments, but I want to give this undertaking from this side, that if there are disappointments, and if children sent back to their parents fall into delinquency again, he can rest assured that his action will be endorsed and defended in any gathering where it is called into question. I do not want to create the impression in this House or elsewhere, that industrial schools, or indeed reformatories, are dreadful places in which children suffer unmentionable wrongs. That would be quite false. These institutions are run largely by Christian Brothers and orders of priests, who do their very best, very often with deplorably inadequate equipment. That is no fault of theirs, but these institutions are not adequate substitutes for good family surroundings, and inasmuch as none of us would suffer our children to be removed to industrial schools, we should be scrupulous to see that no poor person's child should be removed without the same consideration and care being taken in arriving at that decision as would be taken with regard to our own children.

DATE 29 February, 1940

2007-10-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

JUDGMENT of Mr. Justice Hardiman delivered the 17th day of October, 2007.

This is the appellant’s appeal against the judgment and order of the High Court (O’Neill J.) of the 26th July, 2005, whereby the appellant was refused relief. The appellant is the defendant in a criminal case in which he is accused of multiple offences of a sexual nature allegedly perpetrated while he was a Christian Brother working in the former Artane Industrial School. These offences as originally framed related to seven victims, six males and a female, and extending back to 1955. However, shortly before the appellant was returned for trial the oldest allegations, relating to a Mr. W. were dropped. There are now extant eight allegations of buggery, 63 of indecent assault and one charge of attempted buggery. The oldest extant charge relates to the year 1961, forty-six years ago and the latest relates to the year 1969, thirty-eight years ago. Evidently, these are very long periods of time. Moreover, the appellant has the benefit of a finding of the learned trial judge that the delay in this case “could not rationally be considered to be anything other than inordinate”. The learned trial judge also held:

“I am also satisfied that between January 1996 when a statement was taken from K.K. there was unreasonable delay on the part of An Garda Síochána in progressing the investigation into the allegation made by K.K. However I am satisfied that the applicant has not pointed to any particular prejudice be it presumptive or actual relative to the delay for that particular period and that being so I have come to the conclusion that that particular delay did not contribute in any kind of significant way to the risk of an unfair trial of the applicant in respect of the charges relative to K.K.”.

In a number of previous cases I have outlined the acute prejudice which lapse of time can cause to a person accused of a serious criminal offence. The jurisprudence on this topic grew up in relation to civil cases: I have discussed it in the first part of my judgment in J.O’C v. DPP [2000] 3 IR 478. In O’Domhnaill v. Merrick [1984] IR 151Henchy J. held:

“While justice delayed may not always be justice denied, it usually means justice diminished. In a case such as this, it puts justice to the hazard to such an extent that it would be an abrogation of basic fairness to allow the case to proceed to trial. For a variety of reasons, a trial in 1985 of a claim for damages for personal injuries sustained in a road accident in 1961 would be apt to give an unjust or wrong result in terms of the issue of liability or the issue of damages, or both. Consequently, in my opinion, the defendant who has not in any material or substantial way contributed to the delay should be freed from the palpable unfairness of such a trial.”

Henchy J. also said:

“I consider that it would be contrary to natural justice and an abuse of the process of the Court if the defendant had to face a trial in which she would have to try to defeat an allegation of negligence on her part in an accident that would have taken place 24 years before the trial and a claim for damages of which she first learnt sixteen years after the accident.”

The aspect of this jurisprudence which I wish to emphasise here is that the Courts were prepared to infer such unfairness simply from the periods of delay. In another case cited in J.O’C, O’Keeffe v. The Commissioner of Public Works, the Supreme Court regarded as “a parody of justice” the hearing which would take place twenty-three years after an industrial accident which was the subject of the action.

At pages 499-500 of the report in JO’C, I have endeavoured to summarise the jurisprudence to which I refer. I continue to be of the view that these matters are of the greatest relevance in considering an application to prohibit a trial on the ground of lapse of time.

There is, of course, another line of authority, much developed in the cases, relating to the specific area of alleged child sexual abuse. Arising from this line of authority, it is no longer necessary for the prosecution to establish a specific reason for delay by a complainant in reporting such allegations and that, no doubt, is as it should be. There nevertheless remains the difficulty of providing a fair trial, as opposed to “a parody of justice” after very long periods of delay. In other words, the potential for delay to cause unfairness is quite unaffected by the reasonableness or otherwise of the delay, considered from the point of view of the complainant.

I mention these points because of a particular submission made on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions in this case, to the effect that “Decisions of the Superior Courts to restrain trials on the basis of delay are governed by a principle of parsimony…”.

In this connection, I wish to express my agreement with what Ms. Justice Denham had to say in B. v. DPP [1997] 3 IR 140 at 195:

“It is not the applicant’s interests only which have to be considered. It is necessary to balance the applicant’s right to reasonable expedition in the prosecution of the offences with the community’s right to have criminal offences prosecuted. The community’s right to have offences prosecuted is not absolute but is to be exercised constitutionally, with due process. If there is a real risk that the applicant would not receive a fair trial, then on the balance of these constitutional rights the applicant’s right would prevail.”

Similarly, in D. v. DPP [1994] 2 IR 465 at 473 Mrs. Justice Denham held:

“The applicant’s right to a fair trial is one of the most fundamental constitutional rights afforded to persons. On a hierarchy of constitutional rights it is a superior right. A Court must give some consideration to the community’s right to have this alleged crime prosecuted in the usual way. However, on the hierarchy of constitutional rights there is no doubt that the applicant’s right to fair procedures is superior to the community’s right to prosecute. If there was a real risk that the accused would not receive a fair trial then there would be no question of the accused’s right to a fair trial being balanced detrimentally against the community’s right to have alleged crimes prosecuted.”

I wish to reject this “principle of parsimony” as strongly as I can. The right to a fair trial is a superior right and cannot be clogged by any “principle of parsimony”. Equally, it must be borne in mind that what an applicant must establish is the real risk (as opposed to the demonstrated certainty or probability) of an unfair trial. It would be unrealistic to require a defendant to prove what a dead or missing witness would have said when, by reason of the delay in making the allegation, the defendant would have had no reason whatever to discuss this question with the witness.

Although the periods of delay in this case are very long, there are certain features which tend to mitigate their effect. The appellant gave extensive interviews to members of An Garda Síochána and, as the learned trial judge has found, these appear to demonstrate that his memory is functioning and accurate and that he shows quite a marked instinct for precision. There is another aspect to these interviews as well.

In the course of interviews with the gardaí the applicant is alleged to have made certain admissions. These are admissions to actions which would amount to indecent assault (now described as sexual assault) but do not extend to the crime of buggery, which he stoutly and consistently denied. The conduct to which he admitted, which was in the nature of inappropriate touching, occurred, he said, “in moments of human weakness”. He also said, speaking of the allegations made against him, that “if the boys have said this, he must accept it, but he has no recollection of it. He must accept what they have said on trust. His memory is not as good as it used to be… something must have taken place”.

He said that he remembered one of the boys, Mr. K. because of his unusual name. He also remembered another boy, Mr. M. He made specific admissions of conduct which would amount to indecent assault in relation to this boy. His admissions are at least open to the interpretation that he also concedes conduct of this sort with other, unnamed, boys. He could not say how often he experienced “moments of weakness”. Asked whether he had behaved in the way indicated with anyone subsequent to his contact with Mr. M. he said “I might have, I don’t know. I could have.”

There are a number of things to be said about these admissions. Firstly, as indicated above, they do not extend to buggery which was always denied apparently (insofar as one can judge from a typed transcript) with considerable vehemence. Secondly, all statements in the nature of admissions related to boys. Indeed, the questions which elicited the admissions were couched in terms of boys exclusively. There is no admission in relation to the female complainant. Her case is also different in the sense that it was not alleged to have taken place in the school or the kitchen of the school but elsewhere. Thirdly, there are undoubtedly admissions of a more general variety, in relation to boys other than Mr. K. or Mr. M. but the applicant could not name them because he had a poor memory for names due to lapse of time.

It appears to me that these admissions are a significant factor in the present case. Admissions, depending on their context, may vary greatly in their significance on an application like this. An unrecorded and disputed allegation may be of little or no significance unless its terms or context make it very compelling. A disputed allegation of admissions to Gardaí will normally be verified by recording: an omission to record will call for explanation. However, in the present case the admissions do not appear to have been denied or glossed in any way so that it seems reasonable to take them at face value.

On that basis, there are admissions to misbehaviour with two specified boys and with others unnamed. There are also admissions to a propensity to behave in a particular way “in moments of weakness”.

In that context, I would not regard the inability to recall specific children by name as gravely prejudicial to the applicant’s prospects of a fair trial. It is perfectly clear from the undisputed verbal admissions that the applicant has positive memories of behaving in the manner indicated, to the point at which he indicated that he was prepared to accept the truth of the allegations made. Equally, of course, he may be in a position to rely on the admissions made by him to support the credibility of his denial of buggery. The very vehemence of these denials is indicative of a strong subjective memory for what did and did not occur.

To look at these admissions from another point of view, it would in my opinion be extraordinary to prohibit a trial in circumstances where the defendant admits a significant amount of behaviour of a criminal nature. Without doubt his ability to be more precise as to the individuals involved, and perhaps about other features, is due to lapse of time, but, having regard to the admissions, that lapse of time would itself appear to be caused or contributed to by the defendant’s activities. In those circumstances I do not consider that the demands of justice or the requirement of a fair trial require that the respondent be prohibited from prosecuting any of the charges against the applicant. There is, of course, still a need for great care to be taken, after so long a lapse of time, to ensure that the defendant is not unreasonably prejudiced by it. This is a matter primarily for the trial judge on the hearing of the criminal case.

In the circumstances of this case there is no need to consider what the position would be in the absence of the admissions referred to, and I expressly refrain from doing so. I hope it is clear from what is said above that long lapse of time has the potential to cause great injustice and that this is a matter calling for the serious attention of the Courts when the judicial review jurisdiction is invoked. I also wish to make it clear that this is a case of undisputed admissions and cannot be regarded as a useful precedent in circumstances where alleged admissions are hotly disputed and not independently verified.

Reply to Fr. Flannery

2006-08-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

Kicking the church more fun than facing real problems

quote:
Rite and Reason: Is it not strange that we are devoting so much energy to inquiring into the abuse of children half a century ago when there is so much that is unsavoury in the lives of children today, asks Fr Tony Flannery

No it is not strange to devote so much energy into the shattering of innocence, even if it happened half a century ago. It is certainly less strange than devoting energy to an incident that happened 2000 years ago on Golgotha. That incident concerned the death of a man who declared:

Mark 10:14 Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

quote:
If we had enough inquiries we would discover that there was a lot of hunger and physical abuse, suffered by the children of Ireland in those far distant war years. The stories from the orphanages could be replicated in many homes and schools of the time. A great deal of apologising would need to be done.

So you are stating, as a priest, that there was widespread child malnutrition, child starvation, child exploitation, and child slavery in the Ireland of 50 years ago. How is it then that only a select few were singled out, taken from their kith and kin, for more of the same only this time from members of the religious orders?

quote:
What the long-term effect of this [physical/sexual abuse] on our children will be can only be guessed at.

There is no need for guessing as to the effects of this - that's why we have inquiries, maybe a trip to the Curragh Prison where there are many clergy sojourning for their crimes against children is in order. I believe cardinal dessie is a regular "visitor" - doing some "p a s t o r a l" work no doubt !!

quote:
More and more marriages are splitting up, and new relationships being formed. As a consequence some children have to deal with a number of different adults acting in the role of parent during their upbringing. This must be very confusing, and again its long-term effects will only become apparent later.

Marriage breakup is not a new phenomenon. Believe it or not it happened 50 years ago - only in those years the children were then criminalised and carted off to Child Detention centres like Artane, Newtownforbes, Upton, Letterfrack, Ferryhouse, etcetera etcetera where they were abused physically, sexually and emotionally.

quote:
Another difficulty with children nowadays is that they are sexualised at a young age.

Believe it or not children were sexualised 50 years ago .... by clergy abusers in the Institutions. Where these abusers raped and sodomised children with very little hindrance from their clergy Superiors.

quote:
The common assumption today is that the experience of sexual abuse does almost irreparable damage to a child, which will impact on their whole life. It would appear to be classified as the worst form of abuse. But can we be sure of that? How does one measure the damage done to a child by one form of neglect or abuse more than another?

By "common assumption" I presume you mean amongst the people you congregate with (if you'll pardon the pun), which I expect are fellow clergy - celibate and without any responsibilities towards the raising of children. You really shouldn't make generalisations about something of which YOU have no experience - either as an abuser or as a survivor of abuse.

quote:
Does it strike anybody that it is a bit strange that we are devoting so much time, money and energy to inquiring into the abuse of children half a century ago when there is so much that is unsavoury in the lives of children today?

No it is not strange - and why say "we" .... the catholic church is devoting very little energy, very little time and very little money into these inquiries - and the same church has already devoted most of the 20th. century to covering up the abuse of children in Institutions and parishes, indeed the church devoted much of that time moving abusing clergy from parish to parish and from Institution to Institution. In many instances clergy abuse victims were further abused and attempts were made to "disappear" these children into the Child Detention system which was managed solely by the religious orders.

quote:
The other obvious anomaly, beginning to be highlighted by some commentators, is that all the inquiries are into the behaviour of Catholic Church institutions and people, even though their abuse, dreadful as it was, is only a tiny fraction of all the abuse of children that happened in the past. From where I stand it seems that we are taking the easy way out on two counts. It is much simpler to delve into the failures of the past than the present.

Should we forget the abuses then ?

A country without a memory is a country of madmen. George Santayana
To knock a thing down, especially if it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight of the blood. George Santayana
The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it. George Santayana

Kicking the church more fun than facing real problems

2006-08-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

Rite and Reason: Is it not strange that we are devoting so much energy to inquiring into the abuse of children half a century ago when there is so much that is unsavoury in the lives of children today, asks Fr Tony Flannery.

The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse looked a serious and formidable gathering in the brief shot on RTÉ's Nine O'clock News a few months back, as they inquired into treatment of children at a Newtownforbes orphanage in the 1940s. Apparently the children were poorly fed and subject to physical abuse in those years. The Sisters of Mercy, who ran the orphanage, apologised yet again for their failures of the past. If we had enough inquiries we would discover that there was a lot of hunger and physical abuse, suffered by the children of Ireland in those far distant war years.

The stories from the orphanages could be replicated in many homes and schools of the time. A great deal of apologising would need to be done. Two disturbing reports in relation to current abuse of children were made public recently. We had the Prime Time investigation of the sex trade in Ireland. It would appear to be thriving in most of our cities, and many of those exploited are adolescent girls and boys from eastern Europe. It made for unpleasant viewing, and I was surprised at the relatively limited reaction to it in the following days. The second report was into personnel from various NGO and UN agencies working in Liberia and other African countries. Apparently some of them are exploiting the local children for sex. The report did not point at Irish people, but since we are noted for the numbers of NGOs and UN people we send to Africa, I was surprised that it did not get more notice and response here. After all we have been through in recent years we should be sufficiently realistic to suspect that if this abuse is going on, Irish people are as likely to be involved as anyone else.

There are other ways in which children are neglected in modern Ireland. The lifestyle forced on many young parents makes it almost impossible for them to give sufficient time and attention to the rearing of their children. Because of the enormous price they have to pay for their house, they are burdened by a mortgage that makes it essential that both parents continue to work outside the home, and the child is very often left in a crèche from early morning till late evening, five days a week. What the long-term effect of this on our children will be can only be guessed at. The debate on that continues. Our modern lifestyle is also putting great stress on marriage. More and more marriages are splitting up, and new relationships being formed.

As a consequence some children have to deal with a number of different adults acting in the role of parent during their upbringing. This must be very confusing, and again its long-term effects will only become apparent later. Another difficulty with children nowadays is that they are sexualised at a young age. It is not uncommon to have children's discos at First Communion time. Little girls who receive this sacrament are becoming like mini brides, with the hair-dos, the manicures and the fake tans. Apart from the materialism that is directly contrary to the meaning of Eucharist, these girls are being given a message that how we look defines who we are, and we wonder why teenage girls sometimes become anorexic. Today's parents are the first generation in this country who, in many instances, can give their children whatever they ask for in material goods. If they feel guilty for not spending enough time with them, there is a great temptation to shower them with possessions instead. Grandparents can be also to blame here. Indulging their grandchildren is easy and tempting for them, too. As a consequence children are growing up without ever coming to know how to wait for anything. In this they are failing to learn what is possibly the most important lesson for life - the ability to say "no" to ourselves.

How will they manage when life, as it does, presents them with situations in which they cannot have everything they want? The high suicide rates and the prevalence of binge drinking are indications that all is not well with our young people. The common assumption today is that the experience of sexual abuse does almost irreparable damage to a child, which will impact on their whole life. It would appear to be classified as the worst form of abuse. But can we be sure of that? How does one measure the damage done to a child by one form of neglect or abuse more than another? Does it strike anybody that it is a bit strange that we are devoting so much time, money and energy to inquiring into the abuse of children half a century ago when there is so much that is unsavoury in the lives of children today? The other obvious anomaly, beginning to be highlighted by some commentators, is that all the inquiries are into the behaviour of Catholic Church institutions and people, even though their abuse, dreadful as it was, is only a tiny fraction of all the abuse of children that happened in the past.

From where I stand it seems that we are taking the easy way out on two counts. It is much simpler to delve into the failures of the past than the present. As a society we still have an adolescent obsession with the Catholic Church, even though its traditional power has long since been eroded. It is much more fun to keeping kicking the church than to face the real problems of today.

Fr Tony Flannery is a Redemptorist priest and columnist with Reality. His book Keeping the Faith was published last year

The Irish Times

Baltimore Industrial School

2006-05-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

The Investigation Committee - REPORT INTO BALTIMORE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL

"I have no time really to wait for three or four [or] five years for a finding . . . I only hope that somebody has the courage to take on board these things."
These words come from the transcript of a hearing of the Child Abuse Committee at which a former pupil of the Baltimore Fisheries School (Baltimore Industrial School) recounted on oath his experiences of life in that institution in the 1940s. At the time of hearing, the witness was seventy-one years of age and he had experienced medical problems.

Life in Baltimore School as recounted by the witnesses was so harsh and deprived by the standards of today as to verge on the unbelievable, were it not for the fact that a contemporaneous record is available to give credence to the testimony.

The evidence of the witnesses in relation to life as they experienced it in Baltimore School, although occasionally more graphic, is closely mirrored in the inspection reports which have survived.

Appalling accommodation they were living in: the large dirty dormitories; the poor quality beds with flea infested and urine saturated mattresses and bedding.

Even by the standards of the time, the lack of hygiene and the unhygienic practices described by the witnesses seem remarkable. On bathing day the bath water was changed after five or six boys had bathed. There were no toothbrushes or toothpaste, combs, soaps or personal towels. The clothing and the bedding was verminous. There were outbreaks of scabies.

On the inadequacy of the food. The witnesses recalled that the pupils were not merely hungry, they were literally starving. They were compelled to supplement their diet by eating raw vegetables and vegetation, potatoes, turnips, mangolds, carrots and sorrel, by eating barnacles at the seashore and by scavenging, begging and stealing in the village of Baltimore.

Many of the witnesses commented on their lack of physical stature, which they believed was attributable to the inadequate diet they received in their formative years in Baltimore. Over half a century later, the Committee noted that the lack of physical stature was still observable.

The physical hardship and deprivation described by the witnesses was observed and reported on in the course of the general and medical inspections carried out by the departmental medical inspector.

The method of enforcing discipline employed in Baltimore School, both in the classroom and in the school generally, was the infliction of physical punishment.

Its frequency and its severity was suggestive of a regime in which infliction of severe physical punishment in the classroom was systemic.

A significant feature of the evidence was the fear which the enforcement of discipline engendered in the pupils. Witnesses testified that in later life, they had nightmares about being beaten.

From their hesitancy to recount their experiences and from their reticence about articulating the details, it was patently obvious that they were not accustomed to discussing such matters, although some had attended a counsellor, a psychologist or a psychiatrist.

Witnesses demonstrated a convincing and clear recollection of the core events. The evidence was characterised by idiosyncratic, unsolicited detail.

There was credible evidence from a significant number of witnesses that they were subjected to gross sexual abuse, including anal and oral intercourse, by him. There was also credible evidence of attempted sexual abuse and sexual advances which were successfully rebuffed. There was consistency between the accounts of the witnesses, each of whom gave his evidence to the Committee in private.

The Committee's findings are based only on evidence which would be admissible in a court and the standard applied is proof on the balance of probabilities.

The Committee is satisfied that the witnesses were honest and truthful. While not corroborative of each other in the strict sense, the evidence of the witnesses is characterised by similarity of fact and consistency. The Committee is also satisfied that, far from having any ulterior or secondary motivation for giving evidence to the Committee, the motivation of the witnesses was wholly altruistic: it was to ensure the children of today and tomorrow do not experience what they experienced in childhood.

LETTER MAKES LIARS OF SISTERS OF MERCY

2006-05-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

DAMNING letters from the Department of Education setting out the serious neglect of children at Newtownforbes industrial school, Co Longford, in the early 1940s, were presented to the Commission on Child Abuse. The letters catalogued attempts by the Department to improve conditions at the school up to the mid-1940s, when their efforts began to bear fruit.

Sr Margaret Casey, leader of the western province of the Mercy Sisters, testified to the Child Abuse Commission and admitted that many of the children found their time at the school to be "harsh, impersonal, abusive and deeply humiliating".

A 1940 letter, addressed to the nun in charge of the school, told her: "I cannot find any excuse which would exonerate you and your staff from the verminous condition of several of the children's heads."

The letter, written by the medical inspector of the Department, Dr Anna McCabe, continued: "I was not satisfied in finding so many of the girls in the infirmary suffering from bruises on their bodies. I wish particularly to draw attention to the latter as under no circumstances can the Department tolerate treatment of this nature."

It blamed the "neglect of supervision and individual attention" as the reason for "the dirty condition of the heads and the untreated abscess I discovered in the child in the infirmary".

It warned that "immediate steps will have to be taken to remedy" conditions at the school, and that, unless there was "a marked and sustained improvement when the school is next inspected . . . I will be reluctantly compelled to take the matter further."

Sr Casey, who was a day-pupil at the school between 1954 and 1967, told the Commission that prior to the 1990s there was no awareness within her order of the damage done to some of the children in its care. She said the first complaint about Newtownforbes surfaced after the 'Dear Daughter' drama-documentary about life at Goldenbridge orphanage was aired by RTE in 1996. In all, five complaints about abuse and ill-treatment suffered by residents of the industrial school were received. These related to the period 1939-1965. The school was opened in 1869 and closed in 1969. At its peak it housed 159 children.

Gross Malnutrition of Children in Industrial Schools

2006-05-06T23:50:00.000-07:00

13 Eanar 1945 I.R.226/44,

Runai,

Roinn Airgeadais

I am directed by the Minister for Education to inform you that he is gravely concerned at the evidence which has been reaching him for a considerable time of the malnutrition of children in industrial schools, particularly those for girls and junior boys. Shortly after her appointment in 1939, the Department's Medical Inspector, Dr. McCabe, set about the task of bringing the dietary in these schools up to such a level that the children would thrive on it and put on weight in a normal way. She revised the diet scales in all schools and advised individual schools on the deficiencies in their dietaries. She introduced a system whereby the resident manager of every school is required to keep a medical chart in respect of each child, upon which, inter alia, the weight and height of the child must be entered each quarter. These charts enable the child's progress in weight to be compared with the normal for its age and height.

These and other measures brought about a marked improvement during the early war years. Unfortunately this has not been maintained and the position for some time past has been serious. The Medical Inspector has stated time and again that the general standard of nutrition is too low. This grave state of affairs is due, to a degree which varies with the circumstances of each individual school, to the following causes:

(1) Inability to provide adequate quantities of food owing to the rise in prices;
(2) Failure to do so owing to parsimony; and
(3) Failure to provide a properly balanced diet (even when the quantity is adequate) owing to lack of training in the management of institutions for children and ignorance of fundamental dietetic principles.

As to (1), the payment of the State capitation grant on all committed children (instead of on the "certified number") and the increase from 5s/ - to 7s/6d per week of the State and local authority grants for children under 6, (both changes took effect as from the 1st July last), have done something to ease the schools' financial position. When pressed to improve diet, however, managers complain continually that they cannot afford to do so, or that they can do so only by economising elsewhere e.g. in clothing. The Association of Managers has applied
for an emergency bonus of 5s/- per week per child. There is no doubt that the schools, particularly the smaller ones and those that have no farms or very small ones, have a case for an emergency increase in their income (in common with every other section of the community) if they are to be compelled to maintain, and in many cases, to improve upon, their pre-war standards of food and clothing.

As to (2), the strongest possible action has been taken in all cases where the Department was satisfied that parsimony was the predominant cause of gross malnutrition. Two resident managers have been removed from office at the request of the Minister for Education. Others have been solemnly warned and will be removed in due course if there is no adequate improvement. (In one such case in Co. Cork the warning was given personally by the Secretary to the Department accompanied by the Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools.)

As to (3), this is a contributory cause of malnutrition in all schools, particularly those conducted by nuns, and an effort to eradicate it is an essential part of the general attack on malnutrition. It is proposed to have a course in institutional management and UNREADABLE next summer and to invite the sister or sisters in charge of the catering in each of the 43 schools conducted by nuns to attend. The City of Dublin Vocational Committee will be asked to conduct the course in Colaiste Muire le Tigheas, Cathal Brugha Street, and to make available the services of professors on their staff who are highly skilled in these subjects. From preliminary discussions between officers of the Committee and the Department it has been ascertained that the course could be specially framed framed to suit the actual conditions existing in the schools. It would deal with the fundamentals of institutional cookery as applied to industrial school needs. Practical training in essential {processes} and dishes would be given and particular attention would be paid to methods of serving large quantities of food. There would also be lectures on the economic planning of menus in accordance with dietetic needs, on costing, storage, and preparation of foodstuffs. In addition, the Department's Medical Inspector would avail of the opportunity to give some lectures on balance in diet, hygiene, etc,. The course should last for four weeks.

Having regard to the background out of which this proposal emerges - persistent pressure by the Department on the schools to spend more money on food and constant complaints from the schools that they cannot afford to do so - it will be clear that the course must not involve the schools in any expense if there is to be a reasonable prospect of securing their co-operation. It is proposed to make a grant of 9 (nine pounds) towards the expenses of each nun from a school outside Dublin City who attends the course - 2 pounds for travelling expenses, 6 pounds for four weeks hostel expenses in Dublin, and 1 pound for materials and part maintenance (they will eat meals they prepare). Nuns from Dublin City schools would receive the grant of 1 pound only.

The estimated cost of the course is as follows:

Instruction:
1 Teacher at 40 pounds = 40 pounds
2 Asst. Teachers at 30 pounds each = 60 pounds
Attendants and rent = 15 pounds

Travelling and subsistence
Say 50 nuns at 9 pounds each= 450 pounds

Total: 565 pounds

The figure might be rounded up to 600 pounds to cover the possibility of a greater attendance than now anticipated. This amount could be provided in a new subhead B1 in Vote 50 entitled "Summer course in institutional management for members of communities conducting industrial and reformatory schools for girls"

I am to request the sanction of the Minister for Finance for the conduct of this course and the inclusion of provision accordingly in Vote 50 for 1945/46

Leas Runai

Shocking Revelations

2004-10-16T02:35:00.000-07:00

The most shocking revelation of Ms Justice Mary Laffoy's valedictory report as chairperson of the commission to inquire into Child Abuse is her summary of the evidence at the Confidential Committee.

This committee was established to allow abuse victims to tell their story in a confidential setting.Those who went before the committee were not asking for redress. They did not want their abusers punished or exposed,nor did they want any publicity for themselves. Therefore,their evidence must be taken as all the more credible.The story they have told is of abuse on a hiterto unimagined scale. Of beatings,of humiliations,of sexual abuse of all kinds, of degradation and of how,in most cases when they reported abuse their claims were dismissed. In over a quarter of cases,they were subjected to punishment for making the reports.But what is even more startling is that the abusers were not just members of the religious orders who ran the industrial and reformatory schools,but lay care workers,nightwatchmen,teachers,visiting professionals, farm workers,foster parents and godparents and a further dimension of this scandal is the culpability of the judiciary in consigning so many children to such institutions on essentially trivial justifications.

Over 600 witnesses made complaints of abuse,and 500 of these had been admitted to industrial and reformatory schools by direction of a court.An unspecified number of these (all boys)were admitted because of some criminality and the commission reports that "the nature of offences in most cases,as reported by witnesses,was theft of food,fuel,clothing,money and bicycles". They were generally sentenced on their first appearance in court. Of the 55 industrial and reformatory schools in the state,complaints were registered about all but four of them. However,allegations of abuse were made also concerning other institutions including a childrens home,two hospitals,one national school and one residential school for children with special needs.413 male witnesses made complaints.

There were 330 accounts of physical abuse involving 19 institutions,the report states,,,,Witnesses described a daily existence that involved the possibility of being hit by any staff member at any time for any reason.Random and continous abuse towards themselves or others created an environment of pervasive fear.The stated reasons for physical abuse included inattention at lessons, not knowing the answer to a question, left handedness, absconding, not obeying instructions quickly enough,bedwetting,general wear and tear on clothing and footwear,talking at meals or in bed, playing soccer, not being able to carry out work tasks, particularly farm work quickly and properly.

Beatings were administered to boys to every part of their body, the front and back of hands, wrists, legs, back, buttocks, head, face, and feet. Some beatings were done in public and witnesses reported that they were sometimes made to remove all their clothing for these beatings. A variety of instruments used to enforce discipline were described to the committee. The Leather strap was the most commonly reported instrument. Also reported were a variety of sticks and other instruments including ashplants, blackthorn sticks, brush handles, pointers, farm implements, drain rods, rubber tyres, fan belts, horse tackle, sliotars(a very hard ball) and hurleys. The committee heard 175 reports from males of sexual abuse in relation to 16 institutions. The sexual abuse described ranged from detailed interrogation about sexual activity, inspection of genitalia, Kissing, fondling of genitalia, masturbation of witness by abuser and vice versa, oral intercourse, rape and gang rape, the report states.

Some witnesses described their sexual abuse as a single event, while for others the abuse lasted for their entire stay in the institution. The claimed perpetrators of sexual abuse included "authority figures, members of the care staff team both lay and religious, teachers, lay ancillary workers, visiting professionals, trade instructors, nightwatchmen and farm workers. In addition, some male witnesses reported that they were sexually abused by men who took them out of the institute for the day or for holidays. There were 228 reports by males of emotional abuse in relation to 18 institutions. Theses included public humilation, personal ridicule and denigration of an individuals family. Witnesses described being constantly told they were unwanted and worthless. Namecalling of a derogatory nature was reported as commonplace. In total, 331 male witnesses reported that 445 people associated with industrial or reformatory schools abused them, with 402 males and 43 females being identified. 358 female witnesses registered complaints against 82 institutions. There were 281 accounts of physical abuse of girls involving 35 institutions. Witnesses described becoming accustomed to being hit as staff passed by, or in the classroom, as their daily lot and believed that life everywhere was like that. Witnesses reported that they were hit on all areas of the body, the fingers, hands, wrists, shoulders, ears, face, head, trunk, feet, legs, and thighs. Among the instruments witnesses described as having been used were canes, sticks, pointers, chair legs, sewing machine treadle belts, leather straps, rulers, scissors, keys, rosary beads, coat hangers, hand brushes, hairbrushes, yard brushes, rungs of chairs, broom handles and tree branches. Other forms of punishment and physical deprivation (of girls) described included:
being locked in dark rooms or coal sheds,
kneeling on stone floors in corridors and steps for long periods,
standing in cold dark corridors for hours or all night
being put outside all night on fire escapes
in the the pig sty
being placed in a cold bath as a remedy for bed wetting.

There were reports of food or sleep deprivation and of being force fed.

There were 83 reports of sexual abuse of girls made in respect of 27 institutions. Sexual abuse complained of ranged from inappropriate kissing, fondling and masturbation of abuser by the child, oral intercourse, use of instruments for vaginal penetration and rape by one or more people. Witnesses reported that they were abused by members of religious congregations and lay people who were members of the care team, ancillary workers and tradesmen, employers while on licence from the institution and foster carers or godparents who took them out for short or long holiday periods. There were 261 reports of emotional abuse of girls made in respect of 35 institutions. All witnesses who described emotional abuse spoke of being unloved, deprived of affection and feeling unwanted throughout their stay in the institution.

They reported that they were told they were only there because no one in their family cared about them. The other main aspects of emotional abuse complained of were personal denigration, family denigration, public humiliation, being subjected without explanation to fearful situations, and having irrational fears instilled in them by a strong negative emphasis on religion. There were 277 reports of neglect of girls in respect of 35 institutions. The most common forms of neglect complained of included:
Lack of adequate and edible food
poor clothing in terms of appearance or suitability for the seasons and materials used,
institutions being inadequately heated
poor hygiene practices
and poor bedding particularly in relation to children who wet the bed.

In total 285 female witnesses reported that they were abused by 325 people associated with industrial and reformatory schools and they identified 289 females and 36 males as people who had abused them.178 of these women and men claiming abuse said they had reported the abuse while resident in these institutions.51 of these(almost 30% cent) reported they had been punished for reporting abuse.

In only 15 instances was the alleged abuser re-moved from the institution concerned,and in only 12 further cases was the abuser admonished. 82 witnesses (nearly half) believed that no action was taken as a result of their disclosures.

Gene slur on victims of Church child abuse

2004-02-15T02:52:00.000-08:00

Pupils were 'pre-programmed' for vice

Henry McDonald, Ireland editor Sunday February 15, 2004

The Observer

Survivors of clerical child abuse have reported a pro-Catholic Church pressure group to the Republic's Equality Authority over its claims that children held in industrial schools were genetically defective.

Men and women who were abused in the church-run schools are furious that an organisation which denies that there was widespread and systematic abuse at these institutions has referred to them as pre-programmed to become alcoholics, drug addicts and mental depressives.

Let Our Voices Emerge, the group set up to promote a more positive image of religious orders in their orphanages and industrial schools, maintain that many children were 'affected' before they ever went into these institutions.

Love's founder Florence Horsman Hogan, raised the possibility in a press statement last month that victims of abuse whose lives were later blighted by drink, drug and mental problems would have developed them anyway.

'Our own parents couldn't, wouldn't take care of us. The usual cause was that they themselves suffered from mental illness/addictions.

'While environment is a factor in these conditions they are also genetic. So, had we never been in care, we were programmed to go on to develop these conditions.'

The Irish Survivors of Child Abuse group has now made a formal complaint to the Republic's Equality Authority. It has also written to Bertie Ahern demanding that he distance the Irish government from what they called 'these odious views'. Irish Soca claims that the Love founder's remarks are a breach of the Republic's tough equality legislation.

Patrick Walsh, a spokesman for Irish Soca, who spent six years in the notorious Artane Industrial School, said the complaint has reached the chief legal officer of the Equality Authority.

'Arguments based on genetic programming smack of the discredited theories of eugenics or social Darwinism. The implication of her argument is that we were programmed from birth to be social failures. For that reason she claims we should not be entertained at the Republic's Redress Board on issues of damages arising from the abuse suffered in industrial schools,' he said.

Christine Buckley spent 18 years in care including 14 in Goldenbridge where she was beaten by nuns and suffered constant humiliations. Her story was the subject of Dear Daughter, a harrowing documentary on RTE. She runs the Aislinn centre for education and counselling referral service for victims of clerical abuse.

On the genetic argument of Love, she said: 'It has been historically proven that we went into these places not because of genetics but rather due to parents dying, poverty, separation and rejection. Are children who are adopted genetically flawed because they were given up by their parents? It is ludicrous.'

Horsman Hogan was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The compassionate side of our States of Fear

2003-08-08T02:55:00.000-07:00

Friday August 08 2003

A former pupil of Ireland's Industrial Schools, Florence Horsman Hogan, tells CATHERINE MURPHY that, contrary to popular belief, for many children they were a Godsend

One can't imagine words like kindness, compassion and mercy regularly popping up in submissions by abuse victims to the Laffoy Commission. Nor were they commonly uttered in States of Fear, the stark 1996 documentary series investigating industrial school abuse which has just been repeated by RTE.

But they are the words used by one woman with a personal campaign to defend nuns who cared for her in the west of Ireland during the mid 1960s.

For over a year, Florence Horsman Hogan has been speaking out in defence of the Sister of Mercy nuns in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway who reared her between the ages of six weeks and five years.

On a broader level, she is speaking out in defence of carers in the clergy who she says are being tarred with the same brush as abusers and against people who she says are putting forward false abuse claims in the hope of making money.

A fiesty, vocal woman, Florence was previously involved in the Campaign for Irish Prisoners Overseas and A Nurse for Daniel, the charity set up to fund home care for terminally ill children following the highlighted case of Daniel Harbison.

Now she wants to set up a group called Let Our Voices Emerge (LOVE) in the hope that people with positive experiences of industrial schools will come forward and tell their stories.

From Eyrecourt in Co. Galway, Florence was born to a 48-year-old mother, a Schizophrenia sufferer who sang in the streets, danced in church and shouted abuse at imaginary assailants. Relatives say she adored her young daughter but could not relate to her.

Florence nicknamed her father the 'fiery fox' for his bad temper. An alcoholic with low self esteem and a big ego, he would 'fight with his own shadow' and become abusive when drunk.

Although both parents came from land-owning families, they were poverty-stricken and baby Florence struggled to survive solely on bottles of tea.

At the age of six weeks, she was rushed to hospital suffering from malnutrition and upon recovering, was brought to the Convent of Mercy in Ballinasloe to be cared for by the nuns.

Now aged 40 and with four children of her own, she equates her formative years at the orphanage with self-respect and confidence and later years with her parents with shame and embarrassment.

"I was a young child at the time but my over-riding memory of the orphanage was of warmth and affection, of getting into fights with other children, going for walks and being taken out of my cot into the beds of bigger children if I was upset at night.

"We got into lots of mischief but I don't remember being slapped. I certainly wasn't whipped and tied to the mast. If you did something wrong, you went to bed early, missed your treats and were given a long lecture by Sr John, the nun who ran the place.

"She always told us we were as good as anyone else and to hold our heads high and keep our shoulders up if the village kids hurled abuse or stones at us.

"The nuns did all the work, cleaning laundry until their hands were weeping, sore and chaffed. They had fifty children to care for, including a number of babies, and when the state grants didn't come through, they would ask their own families and friends for money to see the orphanage through.

"I often go to charity balls now and everyone's dressed up in their gowns and paying €300 or €400 for a ticket. A week later, you look for your photo in VIP or Image magazine. And while I think people on the charity circuit do great work, I often think that the nuns should be there in diamonds and gowns being rewarded for the hard work they did. But the way of nuns is to hold their peace and accept things as they are.

"I was happy and content for those five years but then the orphanage closed down due to lack of state funding. I felt fear and terror at being taken away from the nuns and returned to my parents, a strange, smelly woman living in a world of her own and a crying man. For days I didn't speak at all except to call out for Sr John. The psychological abuse, neglect and starvation I suffered were while living with my parents."

An aunt subsequently paid for Florence to go to boarding school, which gave her a fresh chance at a good life. She now works as a casualty nurse in Temple Street hospital.

'It is important that abuse cases are brought out," she says. "There are things which need to be redressed and stories that need to be told. It is a cathartic exercise from which Ireland will become a better place. The church has covered up but all institutions cover up, including the government, hospitals and schools. We should recognise that there are a few abusers and many carers and should blame individual abusers rather than the church.

"I also believe that since the Laffoy commission was set up, some people are putting in false abuse claims in the hope of making money. None of us can judge what other people are living through but they should examine their consciences before making a false claim that could jeopardise genuine claims."

Irish Independent

Irish company in asset probe on Christian Brothers

2001-12-09T03:25:00.000-08:00

Irish company in asset probe on Christian Brothers
Sunday, December 02, 2001 By Emily O'Reilly

The liquidator is expected to ask an Irish court to allow him to investigate the company, Richmond Newstreet. Dublin-based Des Lamont heads up L and P Financial Trustees Ltd, which acts as secretary to the company and shares an address in Clonskeagh in Dublin. Lamont helped negotiate the controversial £20 million loan by beef baron Larry Goodman to Tipperary farmer Joe Kenny in 1990. A lengthy legal dispute arose from the Goodman/Kenny transaction. According to David Wingfield, lawyer to the Canadian liquidators, Richmond was set up in 1994 as an off-shore trust for the Christian Brothers.

Two years later, in 1996, the court appointed a liquidator to the Christian Brothers in Canada in order to release assets to pay massive compensation claims to sexual and physical abuse victims of the Brothers. According to Wingfield, the Brothers claimed total assets of just over $4 million. However, the Brothers own accountants subsequently discovered that many assets had not appeared on official corporate documentation. Wingfield also discovered other documents which cast doubt over the figures supplied by the Brothers.

In one letter to the Christian Brothers, seen by The Sunday Business Post, Lamont suggests transferring assets to Richmond, but warns to keep this hidden from view. "We are concerned that any mention in legal documentation of Richmond Newstreet, which might become public in Canada in the future, might create, or focus, a target for some person or body with litigious interests," he wrote.

The investigation eventually uncovered papers which revealed the existence of the Richmond Newstreet Trust as well as many official letters from L and P Financial Trustees Ltd, some signed by Lamont. The Christian Brothers told Lamont that only small sums of money had gone to the Trust which they described as an "educational" trust. However, Wingfield told The Sunday Business Post this weekend: "Our suspicions are that Richmond Newstreet was established as a vehicle to hold assets internationally in a manner that makes it very difficult for those assets to be seized by creditors.

"The Christian Brothers accountants concluded that the Christian Brothers had assets that were not properly recorded on corporate financial documentation and there is internal Christian Brothers documentation which reveal assets much greater than they have admitted to. We have grave suspicions about the whereabouts of those assets and believe they may have been diverted off-shore." Wingfield confirmed that the liquidator has advised the winding-up court that he will seek leave to investigate where the assets have gone. This would involve securing a court order in this country to allow an investigation of Richmond Newstreet.

All of the 12 named directors of the company appear to be Christian Brothers, most of them with addresses at the order's Rome headquarters. They include the head of the Christian Brothers congregation in Rome, Edmund Garvey.

The liquidator of the Christian Brothers organisation in Canada is preparing to investigate an Irish-registered company in his search for tens of millions of pounds of the organisation's assets. The liquidator of the Christian Brothers organisation in Canada is preparing to investigate an Irish-registered company in his search for tens of millions of pounds of the organisation's assets.

Sunday, December 09, 2001 :
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Christian Brothers auditors raised concerns about assets
Sunday, December 09, 2001

By Emily O'Reilly

The concerns were raised one year before the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada Incorporated (CBOIIC) went into liquidation in order to pay massive compensation bills to sexual and physical abuse victims of the Brothers. The CBOIIC liquidator has claimed that he believes some of those assets -- alleged to be up to Can$100 million -- may have been transferred to an Irish registered company, Richmond Newstreet.

The allegation was trenchantly denied last week by the head of the Christian Brothers worldwide, Brother Edmund Garvey. The claims were first made two weeks ago by RTE's Prime Time programme.

Details of the auditors' concerns are contained in internal memos circulated by Ernst & Young accountants, which have been seen by The Sunday Business Post. The memos also questioned the Brothers' claims about the ownership of a Christian Brothers private school, Vancouver College, an issue which is still going through the Canadian courts. CBOIIC argued that the school was owned by a trust, while the liquidator argued that CBOIIC was the beneficial owner of the property.

One memo stated: "EY (Ernst & Young) has determined that there may be some significant assets which may not be recorded in the organisation's accounts as at August 31, 1995 . . . There is an argument put forth by legal counsel that Vancouver College's shares are not owned by the organisation but rather by 4 senior Brothers in trust for Christian Brothers of Ireland. Legal counsel differentiates between Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada and Christian Brothers of Ireland. Professional scepticism would suggest that it is in the best interests of the organisation not to own the shares as it would protect the $4,000,000 of retained earnings in Vancouver College. There is a clear motive to circumvent the search for the actual shareholdings."

The memo added: "EY has some concerns about the organisation's willingness and fullest cooperation in providing all necessary and relevant information. Legal counsel expressed similar concerns in an internal memo, yet provided a professional opinion albeit unsigned."

Last week, Brother Edmund Garvey claimed that not "a cent" of Canadian money had gone into Richmond Newstreet. He said the company had been formed as a charitable trust in 1996 to collect funds from Christian Brothers organisations worldwide to help with the Brothers' apostolic and charitable work. "The accounts of Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada Incorporated were annually audited by the international accounting firm, Ernst & Young, up to the time of liquidation in 1996," said Garvey. "In these accounts, there is no reference to any transactions, separately or collectively, involving the disposal of Can$100 million, or any part of that amount . . . I therefore confirm specifically that such monies or assets could not, and therefore were not, transferred to any account in Ireland or elsewhere."

However, The Sunday Business Post has seen correspondence between the company that manages Richmond Newstreet in Ireland, L&P Financial Services Ltd, and Brother Garvey, which proposes that Vancouver College shares be transferred to Richmond Newstreet. In a 1996 letter from L&P chairman Des Lamont, Lamont said: "Ideally, we are of the view that the ownership of the College should ultimately be transferred to Richmond Newstreet -- this being the legally established corporate body which retains the resources on behalf of the General Council of the Congregation for the achievement of particular charitable objectives including the provision of education."

Lamont then warned Garvey: "Conversely, we are concerned that any mention in legal documentation of Richmond Newstreet, which might become public in Canada in the future, might create, or focus, a target for some person or body with litigious interests." The transfer of shares did not go ahead. However, the Canadian liquidator has stated that he is prepared to seek leave in Ireland to investigate Richmond Newstreet. Auditors to the Christian Brothers in Canada raised private concerns that all of the Brothers' assets in that country may not have been recorded in their books.