Accused Cork priest worked with counsellors

A COUNSELLING centre in Cork has confirmed that a
priest, against whom seven allegations of sexual abuse have been lodged,
worked as a volunteer with them in the early 1990s.

The Cork
Counselling Centre said it was never informed by the Sacred Heart
Missionaries that there were any complaints against Fr Donnacha Mac
Carthaigh, who was controversially denounced using Seanad privilege last
month.

Fr Mac Carthaigh, a former selector with Cork GAA and
principal of Carrignavar College, was accused of sexual abuse against at
least seven minors and was removed from ministry in the late 1990s.
However, his removal from ministry was never properly supervised by the
order and he regularly flew out of the country.

The seven
complaints were made between 1986 and 2008, by six men and a woman. It
emerged in recent weeks that the former teacher also worked as a
counsellor at the Dominican Centre at Cork city and trained students in
GAA at Scoil na nÓg in the 1990s.

Sacred Heart Missionaries have
refused to confirm or deny if more complaints have been lodged since Fr
Mac Carthaigh’s name was mentioned in the Seanad.

In a
statement to the Irish Examiner, the counselling centre said: "Donncha
Mac Carthaigh was on placement here for a number of months as a student.
The placement was one component of a masters in counselling at UCC and
took place in late ’80s/early ’90s. Following this, he worked as a
volunteer here for a short period. We had no communication from the
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart about abuse allegations."

Meanwhile,
the Augustinian friar who completed a "walk of atonement" from Cobh to
Dublin in 2008 to offer penance for the handling of abuse complaints in
Cloyne, has spoken out about former Bishop of Cloyne John Magee’s
statement this week.

Addressing Dr Magee directly, Fr Michael
Mernagh said: "What you need to do is go out in front of the cathedral
in Cobh and in a purple robe of penance prostrate yourself for some
time, for some days in fasting and prayer and be open to hear the
criticism and whatever the priests and people would have to say to you."


He also said the diocese’s former child protection delegate, Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan, needed a period of penance.

A spokesman for the Irish Catholic bishops welcomed that Dr Magee "spoke publicly" and had offered to meet victims.

But
he would not be drawn on the ex-bishop’s comments that he had not been
aware of the full extent of the failure to protect children until the
Cloyne report was published.

"I’m not commenting on his comments on the report. He spoke on a personal capacity and what he said is a matter for himself."

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