Date fixed for abuse report court hearing

A FULL High Court hearing on publication of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation report will take place on October…

A FULL High Court hearing on publication of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation report will take place on October 1st next.

The report was referred to the High Court on July 31st by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern for decision on publication, following advice by the Attorney General.

Chaired by Ms Justice Yvonne Murphy, the commission investigated how clerical child sex abuse allegations involving a sample of 46 priests were handled by Catholic Church authorities in Dublin between January 1st, 1975, and April 30th, 2004.

However, three of the cases investigated concern men currently before the courts on child abuse charges. The High Court has to decide what, if any, details of findings in those cases can be published without prejudicing the trials, the first of which won’t take place before April of next year.

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It is expected that the October High Court hearing will be held in camera, as were proceedings which took place last Tuesday.

Patsy McGarry

Patsy McGarry

Patsy McGarry is a contributor to The Irish Times