May 24, 2006

Anger as abuse claims branded ‘tainted’

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Dan Buckley
ABUSE groups have challenged the Christian Brothers to produce proof after the head of the order claimed evidence of abuse was contaminated and motivated by the prospect of compensation.

Giving evidence to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, the order’s provincial, Brother David Gibson branded as “tainted” evidence of abuse at some of his order’s institutions, including the notorious Letterfrack Industrial School in Galway. He told the

commission there had been “contamination of evidence” and complaints against one institution were applied to others.

Brother Gibson said a large number of meetings were organised by solicitors around the country where former residents of industrial schools were brought together. He said groups of solicitors had copied more than 1,000 copies of RTÉ programmes and had given them to former residents.

Posted by kshaw at May 24, 2006 07:56 AM