Child Abuse ‘requires Real Apologies’, Says Irish Judge Sean Ryan

By Nicola Berkovic
The Australian
October 10, 2014

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CHURCHES and other institutions that are in the wrong must give real apologies to victims of child abuse and not try to avoid liability, as this is a key part of the healing process, says the head of Ireland’s landmark child abuse inquiry.

Irish High Court judge Sean Ryan said he believed it was legally futile for institutions to issue an apology and avoid liability.

“My own view is that the quest for a formula of liability-free apology is hopeless because it is not a matter of picking words but of ­accepting a fact,” he said.

“If you’re in the wrong, apologise. Don’t ask your lawyer to do you up a nice apology.

“If you’re saying sorry, you’re in the wrong; if you’re in the wrong and you’re saying sorry, you’re admitting liability, in my opinion.”

Justice Ryan chaired Ireland’s commission into child abuse, which in 2009 issued a 3000-page report that exposed savage and depraved abuse ignored or covered up by Irish institutions.