Ferns Report - Judgement and Recommendation

Judgement and Recommendation

Between 1960 and 1980, the Report found that Bishop Herlihy treated child sexual abuse by priests of his diocese exclusively as a moral problem. He transferred priests against whom allegations had been made, to a different post or a different diocese for a period of time but then returned them to their former position.

By 1980, Bishop Herlihy recognised that there was a psychologicial or medical dimension to the issue of child sexual abuse. Some priests in respect of whom allegations had been made were sent to a psychologist.

However, decisions were made by Bishop Herlihy to appoint to curacies priests against whom allegations had been made, in respect of whom a respected clerical psychologist had expressed his concerns in unambiguous terms as to their suitability to interact with young people.

The report was also highly critical of the failure of the Garda Siochána (police) to properly investigate reported incidents. It noted with concern the disappearance of one police file detailing serious incidents of clerical sex abuse. It stated that the local health authorities failed to protect children even when aware of allegations.

As a result of a late application, a further inspection of files from July 2005 revealed a further five cases of concern, which were mentioned in the report's appendix. This raised concern about the diocese's willingness to disclose relevant files.