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	Abuse Horror By John Manning Fingal Independent December 2, 2009 http://www.fingal-independent.ie/news/abuse-horror-1960016.html Swords victim speaks out on church report A MAN from Swords who was consistently abused over a period of four years by a paedophile priest says the lessons of the Murphy Report on clerical abuse must be learned to protect our children's future. Bernard, a 43-year-old man from Swords, was abused in the swimming pool and car of Fr James McNamee between the ages of six and 10 and he still carries the psychological scars of those events today. For Bernard, the publication of the Murphy Report has brought some closure and after the last five years in therapy, he hopes his life has turned a corner and he can put the events of those dark days behind him finally. Bernard told the Fingal Independent: 'When I stopped counselling last year I felt I was turning a corner and I do feel that now I can begin to put this behind me. The report has helped - it helps to know you are not alone. 'To see it all there in black and white, I feel it vindicates me and proves we were not making it all up.' Recalling the abuse he suffered at the hands of Fr McNamee, he said: 'I remember swimming around in the nude and being touched by him, washed by him and dried by him. He was very physical with us. 'He would make sure he would dry us off and the drying wasn't normal - it was more intense.' Of the bishops and archbishops who failed to address McNamee's and other's abuses, he said: 'Any bishop or archbishop who knew about priests who were abusing and just moved them on to serial abuse somewhere else, should resign.' 'I know people have asked them to look into their own conscience, but do they have a conscience?' He warned that deference to the church above protecting children had to be a thing of the past, saying: 'Going forward, all institutions dealing with children have to know that if they are aware of a scandal they can't do nothing about it.'
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