The diocese of Dromore has opened a redress scheme for victims of child sexual abuse by priests, the first such initiative to be established by a Catholic diocese on the island of Ireland.
Catholic Primate Archbishop Eamon Martin said that having met survivors and examined legal claims against the diocese, he wished to “facilitate a resolution process to enable the provision of financial and other supports for survivors without undue further delay”.
This could include a personal apology from the diocese, as well as the provision of counselling. About £2.5 million is available for the scheme, with individual awards to be capped at £80,000.
Archbishop Martin is the apostolic administrator of the diocese, which includes portions of counties Antrim, Armagh and Down.
Announcing the move in Newry on Wednesday, the archbishop said the diocese “apologises unreservedly for the hurt and damage caused to victims and survivors of any priest or church representative acting under its authority”.
“The Diocese of Dromore finds such behaviour towards children and vulnerable people abhorrent, inexcusable and indefensible,” he said, adding that the diocese was “committed to doing what it can to help bring healing to the survivors of clerical sexual abuse, and to all those affected by these egregious crimes”.
The process, Archbishop Martin said, would be “victim centred” and aimed to provide “recognition and reasonable compensation without the need for lengthy investigation and litigation”.
‘Whatever resources’
He said the diocese was “willing to commit whatever resources it has available for the purpose of redress to this scheme, even if that should exhaust those resources”.
About 70 people have come forward in the past 35 years to make allegations of abuse related to the diocese. More than half of the complaints relate to the late Fr Malachy Finnegan, a former president of St Colman’s College in Newry.
Fifteen victims have already been awarded damages totalling around £2 million in legal settlements against the diocese.
Tony Gribben, who was sexually and physically abused by Finnegan while a pupil at St Colman’s, told the BBC the scheme was a “very important step” and “very timely” but questioned whether the cap of £80,000 was sufficient for more serious crimes.
Another survivor, Seán Faloon, said the diocese was part of a global church and that a cap “should not exist” on what survivors could receive from it.
Archbishop Martin said the diocese “does not have a lot of resources” but it was “scoping out” what assets it might have to support the scheme and it was “prepared to make available all of its assets that it can use for this purpose”.
Under 18
The redress scheme will be open to applications “where there are allegations of sexual abuse (including sexual grooming), which may or may not have been accompanied by physical and/or emotional abuse, and which occurred when the applicant was under the age of 18”.
Applications will be assessed by an independent panel, which is to be appointed through a process managed by a third party organisation.
“The process will fall outside the civil litigation process and be comparable to a mediation,” the diocese said. “It is anticipated that the process will be informal in nature but is intended to be binding on the parties should a resolution be agreed.”
Amnesty International said the announcement of the scheme highlighted the need for a public inquiry into clerical sexual abuse in Northern Ireland.
