Analysis: Patsy McGarry reports on the implications the Rundlesettlement will have for the many cases which have yet to be concluded inthe archdiocese
Yesterday's settlement between Mr Mervyn Rundle, "Tom Naughton and others" will cost the Dublin Archdiocese about €500,000 in total. That figure includes legal costs for both sides.
This, the acknowledgement by Cardinal Connell that Mr Rundle had been abused in 1985, and his acknowledgement that, "before the abuse of Mr Rundle occurred, reasons for concern about the conduct of Father Naughton had emerged which, had they been succcessfully pursued, could have resulted in his being withdrawn from parochial duties", have two major implications.
The more positive one is a strong suggestion that the Church authorities in Dublin are following through on the expectations created towards the end of last year that, where clerical child sex abuse is concerned, there is now a real intent on their part to admit responsibility, where that is the case. Albeit that, in this instance, it has taken them seven years to do so.
But it is clear that, with the arrival of the new year, there was an acceleration on the part of the Church authorities in Dublin to conclude this settlement with Mr Rundle, which was finally agreed last Thursday.
The fine words uttered and the spirit on display at Drumcondra on December 30th last, following the meeting of Cardinal Connell and Bishop Eamonn Walsh with Mrs Marie Collins and Mr Ken Reilly, concerning their abuse cases, appears to be bearing fruit generally where addressing the issue of clerical child sex abuse in the archdiocese is concerned.
Another, less positive, implication from yesterday's settlement concerns the cost of it all. Last October, the archdiocese disclosed that there were 150 civil actions then pending arising from clerical child sex abuse. In fact, 450 such legal actions were then pending against the archdiocese, but 300 of those arose from abuse of children in industrial schools.
The diocesan Church authorities in Dublin do not bear any responsibility for children abused in industrial schools located in the archdiocese.
That falls to the religious orders who ran those institutions, and to the State, which had legal responsibility for them.
Compensation in that context will be paid from the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme, which is currently being advertised in the media and towards which the religious orders have contributed property and cash to the value of €128 million. By agreement with the State last summer, they will pay no more, and they have been indemnified againt further actions by victims abused in those institutions.
The State, however, has no responsibility for compensating children abused in parishes. In such cases, it is the local diocese which bears that responsibility.
But there can be little doubt that the amount in compensation expected by people abused as children in institutions, as with people abused as children in parishes, will be greatly influenced by the indicated size of yesterday's settlement. The actual amount involved was not disclosed, at Mr Rundle's request, but it is believed to be in excess of €300,000, excluding costs.
In July 1998 Father Thomas Naughton (now 72) was jailed for three years for the abuse of four boys - two in Donnycarney parish, including Mr Rundle, and two in Ringsend parish. This followed a Garda investigation which began when, following a meeting with Cardinal Connell in 1995, both the Rundle family and the Cardinal's office separately reported the abuse to the Garda - within hours of each other on the same day. The Church authorites were first to report it.
Father Naughton's sentence was reduced on appeal in 1999 to 2½ years. A Kiltegan priest, he works with the missionary order in Co Wicklow, caring for older people.