• 10 June 2020

Phase 2 Reviews Commence

In line with its stated goals the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (National Board) has commenced the second phase of reviews of safeguarding practice. To date, six diocesan second Reviews have been initiated, five are complete and a further four are planned. At the time of writing, Reviews, as with other planned National Board work, have been delayed, due to the coronavirus crisis.  

National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Annual Report 2019

“These reviews examine current practice and are particularly focused on facilitating feedback from those who receive Church child safeguarding services,” said Teresa Devlin, CEO, National Board. “Hearing directly from the people who use Church safeguarding services adds an independent perspective to complement what is written in Church records.”

The National Board cannot, as it would previously have done, report information on the numbers of allegations made. Despite ongoing consultations and discussions in both jurisdictions, at the moment under GDPR there is legal doubt about the circumstances under which identifying information (relating to allegations of abuse against clerics or religious) can be shared with the National Board.

“Our reporting year (April 2019- March 2020) closed in a period of emerging and deep uncertainty, as Irish society grapples with the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic,” said John Morgan, Chairman, National Board. “Our capacity to undertake key board objectives set for the coming year cannot be realistically or accurately determined as a result. A casualty will be our planned biennial National Conference, which will be deferred until 2021.”

The Annual Report can be downloaded by clicking here



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