IRELAND
Irish Independent
ABUSE victims reacted with fury last night to claims by the Christian Brothers that former inmates of an industrial school conspired with lawyers to claim compensation.
The startling assertion was made at the Child Abuse Inquiry by Brother David Gibson, the Provincial of St Mary's Province.
He said claims against former members of the congregation at Letterfrack, Co Galway, had spiralled after groups of solicitors spread the word that inmates could be due financial redress.
In dramatic evidence, Brother Gibson told the inquiry that claims mushroomed from an initial three after the Order apologised to former students in 1998; to 449 after Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made their apology known and announced the Redress Board a year later.
Brother Gibson said: "Evidence has come to our attention that some of the complaints may be motivated by the setting up of the Redress Board.