Charity boss Finlay was abused by religious brothers

IRELAND
Herald

By Alan O’Keeffe

Thursday May 03 2012

BARNADO’S chief executive Fergus Finlay was sexually and physically abused by two religious brothers when he was a boy. But his father took action.

Finlay (62) spoke publicly about the abuse for the first time to reject the notion that no-one understood what sex abuse was in the 1960s or 1970s or later.

“I knew what it was, I knew it was abuse. I told my father about it, he knew it was abuse, he knew exactly what action needed to be taken,” he said. “As far as I know, the action taken ensured no other child was abused by the same person.”

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