IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry
The Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog received reports of 72 new allegations of clerical child sex abuse as well as 10 of physical and emotional abuse in the year to March 31st 2017, as a downward trend in such allegations continues.
The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC), based at Maynooth, also received one allegation relating to boundary violation during the year and three where the abuse was unspecified. Most allegations related to a period from the 1950s to the 1990s, with a sharp drop after the year 2000.
The figures were supplied in the latest annual report from the NBSC published on Tuesday morning. They represent a significant drop in new allegations, from 153 in 2015/16, and 265 in 2014/2015.
Teresa Devlin, NBSC chief executive, noted however that an examination of the downward trend “shows we cannot assume the work is complete.” Since 2009, when the NBSC began compiling such figures, “there have been years where the figures rose and only constant vigilance will keep children safe,” she said.
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