Sir, – Patsy McGarry's article ("Church watchdog surprised by diocese's child safeguard review", Home News, November 18th) could lead to a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Devaney Review of Child Safeguarding Structures and Processes in Down and Connor. To clarify, the Devaney Report did not examine cases and has a distinct and different remit to the forthcoming audit from the National Board for Safeguarding Children.
My sole aspiration in commissioning Dr Devaney was to benchmark the safeguarding work of the Diocese of Down and Connor on an ongoing basis. The first Reynolds-Devaney Review was published in October 2011. As Bishop of Down and Connor, I welcome the audit from the National Board for Safeguarding Children as it will provide further insight into how we ensure the highest standards for the safety of children and vulnerable adults.
To ensure the independence of their work, the Devaney report could not be published until the National Board for Safeguarding Children completed its review. The Devaney report follows the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland’s own recommendation that a diocese should “develop a plan of action to monitor the effectiveness of the steps it is taking to keep children safe”. I share and unite with the National Board for Safeguarding Children in promoting the primacy of child safeguarding in the church. – Yours, etc,
Bishop NOEL TREANOR,
Down and Connor Diocese,
Somerton Road, Belfast.