Case against nuns cannot proceed - judge

An action by a woman who claimed she suffered three nervous breakdowns following "appalling mental and physical torture" allegedly sustained in Goldenbridge orphanage cannot proceed, the High Court ruled yesterday.

Granting an application by a representative of the Sisters of Mercy to dismiss the action by Mrs Ellen Kelly (69), Mr Justice Kelly found the delay of more than 50 years between the alleged abuse and proceedings being taken was inordinate and inexcusable, and ruled the balance of justice was against the case proceeding.

The judge remarked this was the longest period of delay between alleged offences and the taking of legal proceedings in any case which had come before the Irish courts. There was "clear and patient unfairness" in asking the sisters to defend the action, and actual prejudice had occurred to them as a result of the delay to which they had not contributed. As a matter of probability, the trial might amount to an assertion countered by a bare denial and there was a serious risk of an unfair trial.

His decision on Mrs Kelly's application is expected to have implications for similar actions by former residents of the institution.

Mrs Kelly, a mother of nine children, of Belcamp Gardens, Dublin, had alleged she sustained abuse in 1934-47, when she was aged between three and 16, while a resident of Goldenbridge. She claimed she was subject to systematic beatings by Sister Xaviera, now aged 82, with implements including a bunch of keys and a leather strap.

She alleged she was kept in solitary confinement, deprived of food and sustenance, had her hair shorn and was stripped of her clothes on a number of occasions.

She alleged the psychological trauma perpetrated on her caused her to suffer a series of nervous breakdowns.

The Sisters of Mercy rejected the claims and pleaded there could not be a fair trial and said Sister Xaviera had not entered Goldenbridge until 1942.