Commission to examine handling of abuse allegations in Athlone and Moate schools

The handling of allegations of historic sexual abuse at schools, including in Athlone and Moate, is to be examined by a new Commission of Investigation announced by the Government.

Education Minister Helen McEntee this month confirmed the establishment of the commission, which is to investigate historical sexual abuse in all day and boarding schools, and will be chaired by High Court judge Mr Justice Michael MacGrath.

The establishment of the commission follows the publication last September of a scoping inquiry into historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders,

The scoping inquiry's report outlined a number of reported incidents in South Westmeath including eleven allegations of abuse, involving three alleged abusers, at the Carmelite College, run by the Carmelite Fathers, in Moate.

In Athlone, the Marist Brothers' boys national school, Scoil Mhuire Buachailli, was the site of five abuse allegations against one alleged abuser.

In addition, there was one abuse allegation against one alleged abuser at the Marist Brothers' boarding school in Athlone, situated at Our Lady's Hermitage on the Retreat Road.

The report also said there had been 44 allegations of abuse, by 33 alleged abusers, in schools operated by the congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, but a breakdown of the individual Sisters of Mercy schools in question was not listed.

There were also a number of allegations relating to schools run by religious orders in West Offaly.

The Offaly school which was the subject of the largest number of allegations in the report was St Anthony's College in Clara, run by the Franciscan brothers. The school was the site of eleven abuse allegations involving seven alleged abusers.

In Ferbane, Scoil Mhuire Primary School, operated by the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny, was the site of three allegations against three alleged abusers.

The main source of the scoping report's information on the sexual abuse allegations was data provided by the religious orders and schools themselves.

Announcing the establishment of the Commission of Investigation, on July 8, Minister McEntee said: "The revelations of the report of the scoping inquiry were devastating, and the survivors' accounts of their experiences have had a profound impact. It is clear that survivors want accountability."

She said the new commission "will have a remit to examine the handling of sexual abuse in all types of schools, which was a wish expressed by many survivors".

The Education Minister went on to say that the commission would undertake preliminary work over the coming months and that it will seek "initial expressions of interest from people who may wish to provide information to it" in due course.

She added that work to assess the funding of any potential redress scheme for survivors of sexual abuse in schools would take place in tandem with the work of the commission.

"Further work is being done to examine the matter of financial redress, and how any future scheme could be funded," said Minister McEntee.

"This is important to many survivors, that it is viewed as a measure of accountability for those responsible for sexual abuse in schools, and it is important to get this right. All potential levers that can be brought to bear to secure funding from those responsible for sexual abuse in schools must be considered.

"This is why Government have today agreed to carry out additional work in this area, in parallel with the work of the commission," Minister McEntee stated.

The scoping inquiry cited some 2,395 allegations of historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders, involving 884 alleged abusers in 308 schools across all parts of the country, between the years 1927 and 2013.