The country's largest youth group Foróige has confirmed that convicted child rapist Michael Ferry worked as a volunteer at one of its clubs.
Foróige said Ferry, who was convicted this week of the rape and sexual assault of four boys at an Irish language school between 1990 and 2005, worked with children for the organisationin Co Donegal between 1984 and 1987.
Ferry was given an 18-year sentence at the Central Criminal court on Monday for the latest convictions.
Both the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the gardaí have been contacted to make them aware of the revelations, a Foróige spokeswoman said.
“Foróige wishes to assure the public that child protection is a priority for our organisation,” she said.
“The most stringent child protection policies and procedures are currently in place. These include an application process, garda vetting, a system of reference checks and Foróige’s own organisational child protection guidelines and training, which are derived from and consistent with Children First [guidelines].”
The Foróige spokeswoman said Ferry has had no involvement with the organisation “to the best of our knowledge” for the past 24 years.
It is believed the Foróige youth club in Derrybeg collapsed in the late 1980s and subsequent attempts to set it up again foundered.
The organisation says it has no records of when or why the club was shut down.
Nor is there any record of why Ferry, one of a number of volunteer leaders at the
Gweedore Foróige Club, left the organisation. His duties at the time were to supervise
young people's projects in conjunction with other volunteer leaders.
A Foróige spokeswoman said Ferry did not volunteer with the organisation anywhere
else in Co Donegal or elsewhere "to the best of our knowledge".
She also confirmed that Ferry was never vetted for the position. "Garda vetting was not
available to voluntary organisations 24 years ago," she said.
The organisation said it was never made aware of any issues or concerns arising from
his voluntary involvement in the organisation and never received a complaint about him.
Foroige runs clubs all over the country which it says provide a safe place for young
people to hang out, meet new friends, have a voice and which it says is run by the young
people themselves.
The organisation is funded by a number of State agencies including the Office of the
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
The Department of Education also confirmed tonight that it is trawling through its
records to see if Ferry worked for a time as a substitute teacher at Pobalscoil Gaoth
Dobhair in Co Donegal during the 1980s.
A computerised payroll system for secondary substitute teachers was only brought in in
2006 and before that they were paid directly by school management and the money
subsequently reclaimed from the department.
"The Department is checking its manual recoupment records in relation to the period in
question and will be making any information resulting from this available to the gardaí
and HSE to assist them in any ongoing inquiries," a spokeswoman said.
The HSE said it was also carrying out a review to see if health authorities acted
appropriately to the dangers posed by Ferry.
It issued a statement encouraging individuals and families who have experienced sexual
abuse to seek out help from their GP or counselling services.
An HSE spokeswoman said it will put on additional counselling resources in Co Donegal
if needed.
"The HSE is reviewing its involvement in relation to the case of Michael Ferry to
establish that all appropriate actions were taken by both the former North Western Health
Board and the HSE," she added.
The directors of Coláiste Cholmcille Irish language school in Donegal meanwhile have denied they continued to employ Ferry as caretaker following his conviction in 2002 for sexually assaulting a child in the 1980s.
But they have said he was allowed to assist with adult courses and undertake "repairs" following his conviction in 2002.
During his trial it was said he continued his role as caretaker at the Ard Scoil Mhuire school building in Derrybeg used by the Irish language college, following his first conviction for sexually assaulting a child in 2002.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said he was "appalled" that the school had not complied with child protection guidelines by allowing him to continue to work.
Additional report by PA