St John Ambulance cannot afford abuse settlements, private meeting hears

St John Ambulance cannot afford to pay compensation to survivors of child sexual abuse in the first-aid organisation from its own resources, leaving any decision to settle legal cases with its insurers, its board recently told volunteers during a private meeting.

The meeting heard the organisation was in “crisis mode” in the aftermath of a report by Geoffrey Shannon SC, which found it had previously failed to act on internal concerns that children were being sexually abused.

The report, published last month, found the organisation had failed to intervene despite significant knowledge of risks posed by a former senior figure in its Old Kilmainham division in Dublin, who is now accused of molesting more than 16 boys between the late 1960s and 1990s.

Redacted version

At a closed-door meeting in its Leeson Street headquarters on March 29th, the leadership of the organisation told volunteers it had to face up to revelations it had failed in the past.

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St John Ambulance cannot afford abuse settlements, private meeting hears

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Addressing a three-month delay in publishing the report, the board said there was an option to release a “redacted” version with certain sections removed earlier.

“We took the decision it would have been worse, we would then be just accused of hiding something,” said David Cullen, an adviser to the board.

The meeting heard it was the organisation’s insurance company that “calls the shots” when it came to six civil cases it was facing from abuse survivors.

“When you crash your car and the insurance company come along, it’s the insurance company that settles,” Mr Cullen said, adding he did not mean to “draw a parallel between crashing your car and child sex abuse”.

The board had considered trying to pay settlements to survivors from its own resources but found its available finances would only “just about cover the legal costs” in the cases.

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Volunteers reported that they were “struggling” to find the numbers to keep running first-aid duties at Dublin Zoo, where it has had a presence for decades. In response, they were told it would be “a really bad time to walk away from any public duties” amid the current controversy.

Rank-and-file members criticised the lack of communication from the leadership during the controversy. The board said they were reluctant to provide advice on how to respond to questions about the report due to concerns any correspondence would be leaked to the media.

Volunteers ‘ashamed’

Members were told the result would be “a full story in The Irish Times” about how the organisation was trying to “manage the message”.

Volunteers who spoke at the meeting described the “shame” they felt wearing their uniform in public in the days after the report was published.

A spokesman for the organisation said it did not wish to comment on the internal meeting or disclose the identity of its insurance company.

The report was commissioned in early 2021 on foot of reporting by The Irish Times which revealed several men were sexually abused as children in St John Ambulance in the 1990s. It is understood that on foot of the report a further dozen alleged victims of child sexual abuse in the organisation have come forward.

Dr Shannon’s report also criticised the current culture in the organisation as posing an “ongoing threat” to child protection.

Vetting failure

The former government rapporteur on child protection found instances where its Garda vetting system “failed”, meaning unvetted individuals could gain access to children.

John Hughes, St John Ambulance commissioner, met gardaí and officials from the Department of Children and Tusla to discuss its vetting standards in the wake of the report. He provided assurances that every adult volunteer working with children was Garda vetted, the meeting heard.

The organisation should not attempt to downplay the controversy by stressing the abuse allegations primarily related to one alleged perpetrator, Mr Cullen said. “We said we were really sorry full stop … There’s nothing you can say after that, anything you say after that is you’re explaining child sex abuse,” he added.