Victim of sex abuse refused information on abuser by Church

A senior Catholic Church officer withheld relevant information concerning the alleged abuser of Peter McCloskey, the Limerick man, who committed suicide on 1 April last and who, allegedly, was abused by a priest of the Limerick diocese in the early 1980s.

The official is the director of the Child Protection Office of the Irish Bishops Conference, Paul Bailey. He had received a letter from Church authorities in Australia in August 2003, that indicated that the priest in question, Fr Denis Daly (deceased since 1987) had been involved in some sexual scandal in Australia in 1963, necessitating his removal from one Australian state to another. And yet at a meeting in February 2004, with Peter McCloskey, Paul Bailey denied he had any relevant information concerning Fr Daly's past conduct.

Present at that meeting were Colm O'Gorman and Deirdre Fitzpatrick of "One in Four", who acted as advocated for McCloskey. Paul Bailey said there was no relevant information concerning Fr Daly forthcoming from the Australian church authorities.

Peter McCloskey, while a boy, was allegedly sexually abused by a Fr Denis Daly, a priest of the Limerick diocese. The abuse allegedly occurred after Fr Daly returned from Australia nearly 30 years ago.

In autumn 2002, Peter McCloskey told his mother about his abuse. In November 2002, Peter McCloskey met Bishop Donal Murray, having been encouraged by the bishop's public statements urging victims of clerical sex abuse to come forward. Peter McCloskey engaged in mediation with Limerick diocesan representatives. According to Bishop Donal Murray, the purpose of the mediation was to provide support and counselling and to agree on a public apology. Peter McCloskey, according to the bishop, was "not looking for large amounts of money".

In the course of his dealings with the diocesan representatives, Peter McCloskey repeatedly sought information on Fr Daly's record and anything in it that might be relevant to sex abuse. He was assured there was no such record. Peter McCloskey instigated enquires with church authorities in New South Wales (NSW) where Fr Daly had been based in the 1960s. Arising from that a letter was sent by Michael Salmon, director of professional standards in an office established by the Catholic Bishops of New South Wales to Paul Bailey, dated 12 August 2003. This stated: "(The archdiocesan archivist's) research reveals that Fr Daly ... worked out of the Sydney archdiocese between 1953 and 1966.... Fr Daly ran foul of the New South Wales Police service in 1963 and it was in those circumstances that by agreement with the secular and clerical authorities he left NSW for Western Australia for 3 years… Archival correspondence does refer on one occasion only to Fr Daly's problem with the NSW police in terms of the problem relating to a "Moral lapse"! There would appear to be no other information existent, which is able to shed light on this particular issue".

And yet when asked at a meeting in February 2004 with Peter McCloskey and attended by Colm O'Gorman and Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Paul Bailey denied he had any relevant information. He has since claimed he didn't feel at liberty to give this information to Peter McCloskey. There is nothing in the letter which suggests the information was confidential and, in any event, the Australian authorities in urging Peter McCloskey to contact Paul Bailey were indicating they expected Paul Bailey to disclose the information in the letter of 12 August 2003.

At that same meeting, Peter McCloskey said he intended travelling to Australia himself to make further enquires. Paul Bailey offered to arrange an interview with Michael Salmon of the NSW diocese. The NSW diocese, after some initial hesitation, made available the files concerning Fr Daly at their disposal.

On 28 March, the mediation involving Peter McCloskey and the Limerick diocesan representatives broke down. On 1 April he committed suicide. His brother, Joseph McCloskey, and Colm O'Gorman have said he was devastated by the breakdown in mediation talks.

sara burke