The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC)broadly welcomes the decision today of Justice Gilligan to publish the report of the Commission of investigation into child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin

Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, Chief Executive, DRCC, said “The courageous victims of child sexual abuse will still have to wait for the full report to be published. Justice Gilligan today gave very clear direction as to the sections of the report that have to be redacted before publication. There are pending cases that would be prejudiced otherwise.

However the report’s publication is now imminent. The waiting has gone on for far too long but thankfully an end is in sight. The courage of victims like Marie Collins and Andrew Madden, who demonstrated admirable tenacity and determination over many many years, has to be commended and praised. Hopefully they and the many other victims of clerical abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese, will get some comfort in knowing that at last their efforts have proven to be invaluable to all of us as a society. We are very grateful to them. We would hope that the report will be in the public domain next week.

This report will lead to much comment and analysis as did the Ryan Report. We have recommendations and an implementation plan on the foot of the Ryan Report but we are still waiting for action on the implementation plan. This must not be lost. What happened in the Dublin Archdiocese must never be repeated. We must have child protection on a statutory footing.

For now the victims of abuse will need to be responded to appropriately and the services that are so necessary much continue to be made available and must not be cut in this time of great need. We have a long road to travel to make absolutely sure that these atrocities never happen again and we must be committed as a society in making sure that all the policies and procedures that are necessary must be followed through fully and half measures are unacceptable.”

For further information please contact:
Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, CEO, DRCC – 01 661 4911 / 086 809 9618