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THE REPORTS into clerical sexual abuse allegations at four Catholic dioceses and three religious orders have prompted Garda investigations into any obstructions of justice.
The reports mean that the majority of Ireland’s 26 Catholic dioceses have been audited at various levels – but a significant number have not yet been investigated to see how they handled any abuse allegations, or how they are upholding recent child safeguarding standards.
Ireland’s history with tribunals is a difficult one: though successive reports have uncovered corruption and mismanagement at various levels of public life, in many eyes they are a frivolous expense given that they cannot directly lead to criminal proceedings.
But given the fact that the handling of abuse allegations in so many religious congregations and dioceses remains unexamined, should Ireland set up a full Tribunal to investigate clerical sexual abuse?
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What’s the point all it will do is waste taxpayers money … It’s not like anyone will be jailed …
let the church pay for it Gary.
@les if only
MAKE the church pay for it.
I see no point of having a Tribunal; I would favour criminal proceedings.
Absolutely not. We can’t afford anther one. It would go on for years and nobody would go to jail. We already know there has been abuse. It’s up to the Gardaí to investigate and arrest. DPP to prosecute. Now get on and do it!
Of course we d on’t want another tribunal.all we end up with is another report.The thing that bugs me is how anyone can claim they didn’t understand that abusing children either physically or sexually is bestial at the very least, not to mention sinful against the holy orders taken by these men.what hypocrisy.there will be no change till these men are gone and honest shepherds of the flock take over as Jesus envisaged.
Your dead right Torpedo. That’s the only action required, Garda investigation un hampered by church or state and where applicable prosecutions sort.
Rita your comment about “Holy Orders” is the tone adopted by these men in the past. They stood on pedestals as “Holy Men” and Raped Children and Killed more. Using the word holy in relation to them is in my opinon desecration, to use another religious word.
Rita your comment about “Holy Orders” is the tone adopted by these men in the past. They stood on pedestals as “Holy Men” and Raped Children and Killed more. Using the word holy in relation to them is in my opinion desecration, to use another religious word.
Tribunal should be started with the church footing the bill
Complete waste of time and money unless there are going to be prosecutions at the end of it. Even at that, they’d be a complete waste of time. Surely the prudent thing to do would be to bypass the tribunals and simply arrest the guilty and send files to the DPP and reopen Spike Island and let the guilty break rocks until they are welcomed through the gates of hell …
No disrespect to the victims but what would such an exercise achieve that hasn’t been achieved already?
No,Just Internment and Punishment
Unless there was going to be some action taken, there’d be no point. The government has already failed to act on what we already know!
No thanks, just get the DPP to get his finger out, only a priest could admit to committing a crime and expect no punishment.
Why having a tribunal when the findings are non-binding?
tribunal?……bahahaha I am sorry but is that suppose to be a funny joke, this is ireland where tribunals are set up so sleazy lawyers and legal eagles,judges and whoever else gets on the gravy train can bleed the taxpayer dry for years and talk alot of sh*t and then at the end of it a big book of findings telling us who is guilty but no one is even called to by the gardai. So to answer your question HELL NO!
No, that will cost a fortune, we’ll have to pay for it and nothing will come from it.
We know who the guilty men are, we know what they’ve done, we have witnesses and we have victims. Now put the justice system to work!
No tribunal. Put them on trial and let them serve the consequences of their warped, vile actions.
Set up a new full time Garda Unit with full and new resources to investigate all these dreadful crimes and cover ups. This would result in convictions. No more costly investigations making millions for legal teams with no end result.
I think we already know a lot about the extent of the abuse , we have expert groups that publish reports , how about skipping tribunal and just going straight to criminal prosecutions against clergy that have been hiding behind church laws and acting like they were above being held o account , we have seen some that this week , I don’t think a tribunal report would necessarily lead to more prosecutions which would be my own preferred option.
We haven’t even held Cardinal Brady to account STILL – and he broke the law repeatedly over ten+ years it appears with his silence!
Talk about our state being useless and not wishing to arrest religious criminals!
They don’t have the balls!
No. Could we have prosecutions, jail sentences and defrocking, please, from top to bottom of this rotten organisation?
I have no problem with personal faith, but the Catholic Church’s structures have led to s complete lack of accountability at its upper levels, at least in this country.
Would there be a tribunal if you or I buggered a small child? No. Lock the bastards up, including the bishops who hid and facilitated their crimes.
No, arrests and criminal trials would be much more productive. No use in a Tribunal simply to make rich barristers even richer.
No. Gardai are best placed to investigate and hopefully bring those responsible to justice.
No thanks it would be insulting to the victims to see lawyers clean up off their misery. A full criminal investigation with no interference is the only way and stiff sentences on conviction to deter anymore monsters.
Why? Either they broke the law or they didn’t, there have been plenty of investigations done to find that out. If they did, prosecute them and send them to jail. If they didn’t, we need to pass the children’s rights referendum and make any such cover up illegal in future.
Not another bloody Tribunal ..there has been such a waste of money…and it is not like anyone will be sent down for the abuse…the Catholic Church needs to wake up and smell the daisies…..stop lying and get rid of these sick people once and for all…..and as for your man yesterday pontificating about pedophilia and friendship…..what banana boat was he on…..the victims need answers and help and some need counseling spend the money on giving these people the help that they need…..how the priests, bishops and Sean Brady are let away with complicity is beyond me…….I am sure if there is a God (suffer little children and come unto me)he would not allow these evil acts to take place….Spike Island…
Please no more tribunals..they cost millions and the findings are inadmissable in court…this is a matter for the gardi pure and simple
Tribunal my arse! Bang these evil buggers away. Grown men stalking the high moral ground, telling citizens how to lead their lives and not doing anything about child predators because ‘there were no guidelines in existence’. Laughable!
I don’t think that the taxpayers money should be used to investigate something that we all know the answers to already. Those who were complicit have already been and continue to be identified.
We shouldn’t have to fund this – not while the Roman Catholic Church Inc. maintains it’s special relationship with the state and remains exempt from paying taxes on their land, property and wealth here.
When they are paying their dues, then they would effectively be contributing to the funding of investigations into their own misdeeds which would bring some semblance of justice to these matters.
I no longer consider myself a member of that (or any) church, but I still feel sorry for the clergy who are good and decent people being tainted by all of this. The fact remains though, as has been highlighted WORLDWIDE, that the organisation is rotten to the very core and it needs to be gutted of the filth it harbours.
How about a criminal investigation into a conspiracy within the church to cover up child abuse?
Yeah and charge the vatican with all their gold and diamonds and with O UTCOME, not moved to another parish but Jail!!!! They are still child abusers and pedophiles!!!!! Sick in the real meaning of them….CONTROL BYE BYE!!!
Considering the Mahon Tribunal went from 97 – 2012 and cost hundreds of millions, I don’t think so, this is much more complex and could run for twenty five years. By the time conclusions are drawn, many of the guilty party will have passed on. At the same time, we need action now. Just don’t know what!! Some good suggestions here…
Gardai investigation or special unit > prosecution > prison. Simple.
Let’s ask the victims… Their needs must be paramount… Both state and church are responsible … Both must be held to account… And those at the sharpest edge of the pain must be consulted… Restorative justice is what is implied by the question and if so… then the victims are critical…
There should be a criminal investigation, not a tribunal. As we have been told over and over, evidence presented in a tribunal cannot later be used in a criminal case. A tribunal would only serve to “launder” evidence, making it useless!
Yes. Get the evil catholic church to pay for it, but it won’t happen because the Irish government is as evil and corrupt as the church.
No because this is the outcome. Blah blah blah should have done A B and C and didn’t. Ok we’re done. That will be 10 million please.
Pointless. We already have a public enquiry through the various reports. It’s probably the one scandal where there has been resignations and where people are ending up in the courts and being jailed (though perhaps not as many as should be).
Those defending the 98% of Catholic clergy who did nothing are NOT trying to defend the indefensible 2% of criminals. All Catholics wish to see the criminal pedafiles jailed as they damaged Their church. They are even more furious than the Pope kickers
Garda investigation no stupid waste of money tribunal all that happens is people’s pockets get lined and a stupid report. Conviction’s is what is needed
If there was…it would be abused by those carrying it out…ie the barristers solicitors and the rest of the tribunal loving parasites. The church would love it….those b……rds will take any steps to avoid having to face the music.They would probably insist on a bishop or two being on the committee for a fair and balanced view.Ten years from now we get a report that cost 100 million….something like ‘yes there was abuse but we need to investigate it further before we jump to any conclusions’…we would not want to besmirch the name of an innocent priest or bishop..fk no!!!
Seize church records immediately confiscate all property , seize all accounts . They are the biggest land owners and bank bond holders in the country . They practically own this country. Tribunals will just be like the redress board , victims will be denied justice once again . The redress board offered paltry sums and bamboozled the victims into signing a confidentiality clause which protected their abusers . There were no prosecutions , justice was denied by that bastard bertie ahearn . Interesting that the pope gave him a knighthood. Support the survivors . Write to the department of justice demand an explanation why there have been no prosecutions they are obliged to reply . Also see http://www.bishopaccountability.org see how the yanks get organised. Please make a difference
If we could get an independent cheap tribunal that would lead to arrests or some changes I’d be all for it. If it was just another token waste of taxpayers money tribunal then why bother.
NO! If you want to safe guard children TODAY make an example of those who have previously robbed children of their childhoods. The DPP should move swiftly and if he cant well that is something to spend millions on and not a tribunal that will lead to no prosecutions or, in my opinion, any kind of closure for victims.
We are are at the stage now where we need action – each of these abusers should be made accountable as should each of their superiors.
Right with ya there Bro!
No tribunal, all we’ve learnt from them is they don’t work.
Citizen Jury in public is the only way to find truth and restore trust.
simple – tax the church for the cost of the tribunal; Normally the cost and pointlessness of tribunals would put me off be in favor of this – but exposing the truth here is very important. But there would need to be a resolution a priori to prosecute where evidence of abuse or conspiracy to pervert the course of justice or child endangerment – whether the culprit is cannon, cardinal or pope.
What also makes me sick is their stranglehold over the education system. I know of people who despise the church yet still get their kids christened so that they’ll be accepted into a rc school as there are few or no alternatives currently available. Get them out of our education system now. Get them out of politics give us the Republic that was robbed from us. Any one who supports the roman catholic church supports an organisation which protects the rapist , torturers and abusers of children. The Vatican is a foreign invader in our land. What they have done violates the Geneva convention and the universal charter of human rights . Which by the way they are not a signatory .Justice must be served now!
Waste of money as nothing ever comes from the tribunals, just a lot of hot air
Tribunals are for when you want to ensure no one ever gets prosecuted. that’s why govts use them.
let the heirarchy sit in it’s deserved pit of contempt.
No, it’s only gonna cost us another 500 million and No one will ever go to jail. In fact we should just give up on tribunals altogether
shine a bright light into the dark places where these evil people think they can hide from truth & justice
Er, there have been such tribunals already!
By my reckoning there’s only been the Laffoy Commission into abuse in state-run industrial schools, and then the Murphy and Ryan commissions into individual diocese. There hasn’t been anything on a national scale, along the format that I’m envisaging in posing the question.
The Church would be happy with that, Immune from prosecution after 20 years of Lawyers Fees! No Thanks, put money into a Special Division of Untouchables in the Police force and White Collar crime division too! But the Political parties don’t want their friends getting Jailed!
Criminal action requires judicial response.
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