THE CHURCH’S National Board for Safeguarding Children in
the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) has begun two investigations into the
handling of child protection complaints by the Sacred Heart
Missionaries.
The order is examining allegations made by Senator
Mark Daly in relation to its failure to properly supervise Fr Donnacha
Mac Carthaigh, who was put on restricted ministry in 1996 but continued
to travel freely outside the country without the order’s knowledge.
Seven complaints of sexual abuse were levelled against the former Cork
GAA selector and Carrignavar principal between 1986 and 2008 but the
Director of Public Prosecution failed to prosecute.
During the 1990s,
Fr Mac Carthaigh also worked as a counsellor and trained a number of
underage teams.
The second investigation by the NBSCCC forms
part of their overall audit of all dioceses and orders across the
country. The board has just finished the dioceses audit and has begun
their audit of the religious orders with the Sacred Heart Missionaries.
It is at the discretion of the Sacred Heart Missionaries as to when they publish the two audits.
Mr Daly has urged anybody who experienced abuse or is aware of abuse
taking place at Carrignavar College "to make contact with Ian Elliott
at the NBSCCC in Maynooth".
The NBSCCC said they "could not make any comment on any investigations that were taking place at this time".
The Sacred Heart Missionaries has refused to confirm or deny if more
complaints have been lodged since Fr Mac Carthaigh’s name was mentioned
in the Seanad.
It emerged in recent weeks that two civil cases
against Fr Mac Carthaigh were settled in recent years by the Sacred
Heart Missionaries.
One victim had complained of being raped regularly,
while the other had taken action over repeated sexual abuse.
Following Mr Daly’s speech, dozens of former pupils of Fr Mac Carthaigh
and the former dean at Carrignavar, Fr Tadhg Daly, contacted the Irish
Examiner to recount physical and sexual abuse by the two priests.
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