A spokesman for Dublin's Catholic archdiocese has rebutted an Evening Herald front-page report yesterday headed "Shock at €100,000 Secret Sex Payout". A sub-heading to the story read "Mystery: Cardinal Connell under fire over revelation of 'hush money'".
The story said the cardinal was under pressure to explain "why the church paid out €100,000 to keep a sex abuse victim quiet", and claimed Ferns diocese had paid €100,000 in "hush money" to a victim of Father Seán Fortune.
It said that "the disclosure puts more pressure on the cardinal over his handling of the scandal in Ferns diocese".
Last night a spokesman for the Dublin archdiocese said: "The newspaper seems to have made a basic error of understanding. Cardinal Connell's responsibility is for the Archdiocese of Dublin. He has no personal involvement in the management of other dioceses in the country. What is more worrying is that the paper ignored a press release from the diocese of Ferns early yesterday morning correcting significant errors in the story as reported" [in the Irish Independent\].
In a front-page story yesterday the Irish Independent said Ferns diocese had paid a large sum in "hush money" to an abuse victim before Bishop Brendan Comiskey resigned. It said the amount involved was "not more than €100,000" and was paid in March of last year "to a previously unknown victim of Father Sean Fortune".
In a statement yesterday morning a spokesman for Ferns diocese said: "There was no settlement with any victim of the late Father Sean Fortune in the spring of last year, as indicated in the Irish Independent front-page article today." It continued: "A settlement was reached with a victim in 2001 and confirmed to - and reported in - the media at that time. A second settlement was made in December 2002 and confirmed to the Irish Independent yesterday \. Both settlements were reached after discussions between the legal advisers of both parties. The complaints of the two victims had formed part of the criminal investigation and charges that Father Fortune was facing at the time of his death.
"As indicated to the Irish Independent yesterday \, the diocese has a policy of not requesting confidentiality clauses, but it does have a policy - out of respect to the other party involved - of not disclosing the details of individual settlements. In one of these cases we were specifically asked by the victim not to confirm details."
It concluded: "The diocese of Ferns press office spoke with the Irish Independent yesterday \. These inaccuracies which appeared on the front page of today's paper would have been clarified by the diocese, had it been asked to do so."
Last night the Ferns spokesman said that in speaking to the Irish Independent on Sunday he was not asked about any settlement by the diocese in the spring of last year, or about "hush money", or about money being paid days before Bishop Comiskey resigned. He was "at a loss" to understand why.