Fine Gael want inquiry into clerical sex abuse allegations
Fine Gael has demanded an independent Garda inquiry into allegations of clerical child sex abuse in the Dublin Diocese following the broadcast of a Prime Time Documentary last night.
The documentary highlighted abuses committed by a number of priests over a period of 40 years and dubbed Dublin as one of the worst cities in the world for covering up child sex abuse.
It also criticised the role played by the Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, for failure to pass on information to the Gardai.
Responding to the Minister for Justice's comments that the State needed time to reflect on the matter, Fine Gael's Justice spokesman, John Deasy, said the Government must initiate a Garda investigation without any further delay.
"I don't think the State should spend too much time reflecting on it, I think the State should act. The Church has been reflecting on this for decades and hasn't been doing a whole lot about it, and has been covering it up in actual fact," he said.
Following the documentary's broadcast last night, there have been numerous calls for the Bermingham inquiry, established to investigate allegations of clerical sex abuse in the Diocese of Ferns, to be extended to include the Dublin Diocese.
