Retired Kerry Bishop Attacked in on Train

By Stephen Johnson
West Cork Times
September 4, 2015

http://westcorktimes.com/home/archives/32946

Bishop Bill Murphy .

THE Diocese of Kerry has confirmed reports that retired Kerry Bishop Bill Murphy was attacked and punched while traveling on a train to Dublin last month by a man claiming that the Diocese had not responded adequately to complaints of child sexual abuse.

Reports say that a man in his 30s approached Bishop Murphy, 79, in a carriage after the train had left Mallow Station, and punched him in the face.

A male passenger sitting in the same carriage intervened and asked the man to leave the Bishop alone. After the exchange, the alleged attacker was escorted from the train by Iarnrod Eireann staff. Gardai were waiting on the platform in Heuston Station to arrest him.

“This unfortunate incident has been reported to the Gardai,” Mary Fagan, spokesperson for the Kerry Diocese, told West Cork Times.

“The incident has also been brought to the Designated Liaison Person for Safeguarding Children in the Diocese of Kerry,” Fagan added.

The Diocese of Kerry is made up of 53 parishes and 144,000 Catholics in Kerry and West Cork.