THE detective responsible for exposing the horrific sex
abuse in the diocese of Raphoe in Donegal has said the lid is set to
explode on the entire affair.
Retired detective Martin Ridge was responsible for bringing notorious paedophile priest Fr Eugene Green to justice.
The Gortahork-based investigator has accused the Church of playing games and has called on it to tell the truth.
"This is what they do — they argue about numbers. This is not a numbers game. This is about the hurt and the damage the Church has caused for decades. Nobody will ever know the exact numbers of young people whose lives were ruined by priests. But the bottom line is that it happened and nobody can deny that now."
The former detective was reacting to a statement issued by the Bishop of Raphoe, Dr Philip Boyce, denying reports that there were hundreds of abuse victims across Co Donegal.
"I wish to assure the people of the Diocese of Raphoe that this assertion is simply not true," he said. "Furthermore, it is seriously damaging to the good work of the many trained volunteers who are actively committed to safeguarding children in all of the parishes of the diocese."
However, Mr Ridge said he believed the publication of the audit into sex abuse allegations in the Diocese of Raphoe, which is expected in the coming weeks, will be damning.
"I obviously do not know exactly what is in it, but my interpretation is that the genie is now out of the bottle," he said.
The retired detective said that people such as Derek Mulligan, who helped expose pervert school caretaker Michael Ferry, should be held up as heroes.
HSE counsellor Tom McGrath said he "would not be surprised" if there were large numbers of abuse victims from the Raphoe Diocese.
"You have to remember that this audit will go back to 1975 and you are dealing with a lot of people going through the system within that time," he said.
Mr McGrath said that, in order to cope with the expected deluge of phonecalls ahead of the report into child sex abuse, the HSE will be setting up extra phone lines.
Developments in Raphoe follow on from Thursday’s call by East Cork priest Fr Joe McGuane for former Bishop of Cloyne Dr John Magee to publicly answer questions about criticisms in the Cloyne Report of his role in hiding allegations of clerical sexual abuse from the civil authorities.
Fr McGuane, from Youghal, also urged the country’s Catholic bishops to reveal the names of the six dioceses where the Church’s own child protection watchdog — the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church — has completed audits of child protection.
The Gortahork-based investigator has accused the Church of playing games and has called on it to tell the truth.
"This is what they do — they argue about numbers. This is not a numbers game. This is about the hurt and the damage the Church has caused for decades. Nobody will ever know the exact numbers of young people whose lives were ruined by priests. But the bottom line is that it happened and nobody can deny that now."
The former detective was reacting to a statement issued by the Bishop of Raphoe, Dr Philip Boyce, denying reports that there were hundreds of abuse victims across Co Donegal.
"I wish to assure the people of the Diocese of Raphoe that this assertion is simply not true," he said. "Furthermore, it is seriously damaging to the good work of the many trained volunteers who are actively committed to safeguarding children in all of the parishes of the diocese."
However, Mr Ridge said he believed the publication of the audit into sex abuse allegations in the Diocese of Raphoe, which is expected in the coming weeks, will be damning.
"I obviously do not know exactly what is in it, but my interpretation is that the genie is now out of the bottle," he said.
The retired detective said that people such as Derek Mulligan, who helped expose pervert school caretaker Michael Ferry, should be held up as heroes.
HSE counsellor Tom McGrath said he "would not be surprised" if there were large numbers of abuse victims from the Raphoe Diocese.
"You have to remember that this audit will go back to 1975 and you are dealing with a lot of people going through the system within that time," he said.
Mr McGrath said that, in order to cope with the expected deluge of phonecalls ahead of the report into child sex abuse, the HSE will be setting up extra phone lines.
Developments in Raphoe follow on from Thursday’s call by East Cork priest Fr Joe McGuane for former Bishop of Cloyne Dr John Magee to publicly answer questions about criticisms in the Cloyne Report of his role in hiding allegations of clerical sexual abuse from the civil authorities.
Fr McGuane, from Youghal, also urged the country’s Catholic bishops to reveal the names of the six dioceses where the Church’s own child protection watchdog — the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church — has completed audits of child protection.