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	Church Cover-Up Murder Reopened The Herald December 11, 2009 http://www.herald.ie/national-news/church-coverup-murder-reopened-1971784.html THE Minister for Justice today ordered the case of the murder of little Bernadette Connolly (10) be reopened. The schoolgirl was abducted, probably raped and then murdered in a crime where the prime suspects were two clerics. The case was highlighted by the Herald last week amid calls from Bernie's family and RTE star Gerry Ryan for a re-investigation. Members of the original garda inquiry team in 1970 also revealed to this newspaper that they believed there was collusion between the garda authorities and the church in the case. Some officers believe senior gardai and the church were involved in a cover up to protect the priest, Fr Columba, since deceased. A monk, who is still alive, also had major questions. Gardai were not fully satisified with the monk's account of his movements at the crticial period for the investigation. Minister Dermot Ahern revealed today that a garda Assistant Commissioner has taken possession of the file and that a Garda liaison officer has been directed to make contact with the family. Senior Justice sources told the Herald that the file was reopened following a campaign in this newspaper and on the Gerry Ryan show last week. Gerry Ryan told the Herald today: "It's a very good result to have this case looked at again. "Because of the time that has elapsed there may not be DNA evidence there, but by giving it to someone of the calibre of the Assistant Commissioner then it shows how serious they are of solving it. "At least they can say then: 'We did our best'," he added. The abduction and murder of 10-year-old Bernadette Connolly has remained unsolved for almost 40 years. The young schoolgirl disappeared in April 1970 after leaving her home in Coolooney, Co. Sligo, to cycle to a shop. Search Some four months later, her badly decomposed remains were found in a bog 15 miles away. Religious medals she had been wearing were found near her partially clothed body. Murder squad detectives conducted a painstaking inquiry but no one was ever convicted of her murder. Gardai became particularly interested in the movements of a green van that was seen around the time of the girl's disappearance. The van belonged to the Passionist Order who were based at nearby Cloonmahon monastery. But no member of the religious congregation had admitted driving the van at that time. Gardai were unhappy with the level of cooperation they received in their investigations on the van's whereabouts. Some members of the order had changed their statements. A local petrol pump attendant told gardai he had seen a religious brother driving the van that day. The monk flatly denied this. The gardai were also very interested in a priest at the monastery who seemed to know much about the investigation. The young priest, Fr Columba, ended up living with the Connolly family in the weeks after Bernadette vanished as he said special Masses for them and assisted the family. A sister of Bernadette, Kerrie Aldridge (38), called upon gardai to use modern DNA techniques in the case. The family were aware for many years that senior gardai suspected the killer may have been a member of the Cloonmahon Monastery. "When the Murphy Report came out I felt so annoyed once more on hearing about garda collusion with clergy," said Kerrie, who lives with her husband Darren and their three young children in her original family home in Collooney. She told the Herald: "Our sister's death is still fresh for our family. It is a constant sore, an open wound for all of us." Kerrie said that her parents never recovered from the shock and sadness of Bernadette's murder. Her mother Maureen died 12 years later, aged just 48. Her father Gerry died in 1999 and was "99 percent convinced" her daughter's killer was based in the monastery, she said. Truth Kerrie said she and her sisters Ann and Patricia and brother Tommy have a deep desire that the truth about what happened should be uncovered. "We would like the gardai to use DNA methods to examine the clothes she was wearing. Her underpants and tights were never found but what about her vest and jacket," Kerrie said. Just before his own death in 2001, Fr Columba gave an interview which contained a bizarre account of what he believed had happened to Bernadette. The priest declared: "In my gut feeling, I think it was the security forces. I heard that there was a consignment of guns for the IRA coming to the area of Cloonmahon around the time she disappeared. "I would say the child was kidnapped in order to get the area searched for arms and things went wrong."
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