Child Abuse Report to Be Published, Belfast Telegraph, July 4, 2011

Child Abuse Report to Be Published

Belfast Telegraph
July 4, 2011

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/child-abuse-report-to-be-published-16018924.html

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said he had hoped the Murphy report would have been published by now

A long-awaited report into the handling of clerical child sex abuse allegations in the Diocese of Cloyne is due to be made public within weeks.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said the Murphy report is expected to be brought before Cabinet on Tuesday July 12 and published shortly after.

The report centres on allegations of child sexual abuse against 19 clerics operating in the diocese between 1996 and 2009.

The High Court ruled in April one chapter be censored over fears it could prejudice the criminal trial of an alleged paedophile priest.

Mr Shatter said he had hoped the report would have been published by now.

"It's been a long drawn out process of consultations involving lawyers who had an interest in the matter and unfortunately it's been more long drawn out than I anticipated," he said.

"It looked as if it might be necessary to make a court application to get some further clarity on the matter, but as a result of legal advice I received at the end of last week that doesn't appear to be the case.

"We're now moving to a position where it is likely the report can be brought before cabinet on Tuesday week and published very shortly thereafter," he told RTE.

Its publication follows a two-year investigation by Circuit Court judge Yvonne Murphy, who also probed the handling of abuse claims in the Dublin Archdiocese.

The state inquiry was ordered in January 2009 after a damning report by the Catholic Church's abuse watchdog found that the then Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee, took minimal action over a series of child abuse allegations against two of his priests.