ROSMINIANS

GENERAL STATEMENT OF FR. MATTHEW GAFFNEY

PROVINCIAL OF THE IRISH PROVINCE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARITY (Rosminians)


1 Preface

1.1 I am the Provincial Superior of the Irish Province of the Institute of Charity. My period of office began on the 8 September 1997 and lasts for a period of six years. As Provincial Superior, I have assumed the duty of representing the Institute before the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, although with considerable limitations.

1.2 The Institute has or had association with two Industrial Schools: St. Patrick’s Industrial School, Upton, Co. Cork, which closed on the 30 September 1966 and St Joseph’s Industrial School, Ferryhouse, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

1.3 Since 1965 the Institute has also run St. Joseph’s School for the Visually Impaired at Drumcondra Dublin 9.

1.4 St. Patrick’s Upton is still run by the Rosminians and is currently a Residential Centre for Adults with a Learning Disability.

1.5 I joined the Institute of Charity in 1962 and was ordained in 1970, after which I served on the missions in Tanzania, East Africa, until my return to Ireland in 1991. Between 1991 and 1997 my main work was Hospital Chaplaincy. I have no personal experience of working in either of the two Industrial Schools or the School for the Visually Impaired. I had a slight contact with St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse in the year 1969-1970 when, as a student for the Priesthood, I assisted a visiting teacher of religious knowledge in the Primary School. I have no personal knowledge of the circumstances prevailing in those two Industrial Schools, and I have very limited information available for event prior to the mid 1970’s.



2 The Industrial Schools

2.1 The Industrial Schools, although run for the most part by a staff of members of the Institute, were independent bodies with Resident Managers and directly responsible to the Department of Education. Regarding St. Patrick’s Upton, of the members of the Institute who can be identified as having worked there, only 8 are still alive and still members of the Institute. None of the former Resident Managers of St. Patrick’s Upton is alive. Regarding St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse, of the members of the Institute who can be identified as having worked there, only 8 are still alive and still members of the Institute. Only three Resident Managers are still alive, having been in office during the periods 1975=1991, 1991-1996 and 1996-2000. A lay Resident Manager assumed office in St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse in 2000.



3 Staffing and Discipline

3.1 During most of their existence, these two Industrial Schools held up to 200 boys each. Our records indicate that staff limitations were such that usually only two Prefects were available for the boys in each school. The Prefects worked throughout the week including Saturdays and Sundays, and had responsibility for the dormitories and most recreational activities, in short, almost all aspects of the boys’ lives. The task of supervision was difficult for Prefects who worked long hours every day of the week, and had little assistance. They were responsible for the general management of the boys during recreation, meals and all activities outside the classroom and trade shops. Misbehaviour during these times might also be referred to them.

3.2 Child-care training only became available in the 1970’s and took several years to be fully established. This was a result of initiatives by religious and laity to establish courses at Kilkenny and Waterford. St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse was prominent in participating in these courses and was the backbone of the development of the course at the Waterford Regional Technical College.

3.3 The limited child-care policy of past decades gave the Schools a poorly defined role between education and correction. The result of this and other factors, was a predominant need to maintain discipline and control over a large number of boys with very limited staff. The need to maintain authority was a constant pressure and was an explicit expectation of society in general. Some boys presented disciplinary problems and a challenge to authority generally. The practice of behavioural incentives by awards and forfeits was not well known or practised throughout the country, and whilst introduced in St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse through a system of marks in the late 1960’s, it was unable to replace corporal punishment because of bad staff ratios and lack of training.



4 Funding of the Industrial Schools

4.1 Although the Industrial Schools fulfilled a national function under State supervision, they were inadequately funded. Apart from the inadequate capitation grant their main resource was charity, both in terms of the work of members of the Rosminian Institute and in terms of fundraising. The original buildings of St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse were themselves a charitable donation, and the buildings at St. Patrick’s Upton, were also constructed from charitable donations. State (or Local Authority) funding was provided per capita, and was inadequate even for the basic subsistence of the Schools. Both Schools had to supply much of their needs from associated farms and some of the boys worked and trained on the farms, and periodically, all of the boys were needed to help in harvesting. Throughout all of their existence, (apart from recent years) funding was a constant worry and a preoccupation for the Resident Managers and staff. Neither School ever got beyond economising its resources.

4.2 The two Industrial Schools operated throughout their existence with persistent and serious shortage of funds and almost always had an annual deficit and constant borrowings. The produce of the farm or trade shops were sometimes sold to generate income for other uses within the School. Some boys complain of the necessity of working in the trade schools (known as “shops”) for nothing, or the hardship of helping to harvest on the farm. This was true, but unavoidable. Helping on a school farm was not unusual, and was common practice in many other educational establishments in Ireland during the relevant period. That said, I can imagine that the more disciplined and regimented life in and Industrial School would affect one’s view of these activities. Matters such as bedwetting (in part), taking food without permission, and in respect of work on the farm, had its origin in the ever-present shortage of resources.

4.3 Financial shortages imposed economies in every aspect of school life. Food was very basic and institutional in character because of the limited resources and practical difficulties in catering for almost 200 boys. It is impossible to say that improvement was not desirable, and records show a constant effort to secure better funding. Judging by present complaints, shortages affected food standards, and were apparent to the boys. Some menus still exist from the 1960s. Food standards improved with increases in capitations grants, but until the mid 1960s meat was always in short supply. The Schools’ position was quite obvious to the Department Inspectors, and the best was done with limited resources.

4.4 Repairs and improvements to the School could only be undertaken where absolutely necessary. That said, records show that significant improvements were carried out in both St. Patrick’s Upton and St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse for the period concerned. A prepared program for improvement or expansion was a luxury that didn’t exist until the early 1980’s. The provision of adequate accommodation, food clothing, bedding, heating, hot water and building maintenance was a constant struggle.

4.5 By the mid 1960s, despite substantial expenditure from Rosminian funds, both Schools were in need of major improvement in their facilities. As a consequence of the State policy of the closure of Industrial Schools, and in particular after the closure of St. Patrick’s Upton and Artane, St. Joseph’s was greatly over-crowded and most facilities were old and inadequate. Although annually inspected, this condition persisted without State help, and capital expenditure, by and large, came from Institute resources until the end of the 1970s. A partial budgetary funding system was allowed by the State in 1976, and expanded in 1982. However, even by 1979, the School was still attempting to get child-care worker salaries on a par with State-run Institutions of a similar kind. As the needs of the child-care became better appreciated, staffing and investment by the State increased. During the 1980s, the numbers of boys reduced to approximately 75 at St. Joseph’s, and by the mid 1990s, after major reforms and rebuilding with State funding, the School had places for approximately 60 boys with a total staff over 80, including a full time Psychologist. Today the School has over 90 staff for 40 children or less.

4.6 It is against this background, that the conditions of the 1940’s, 50’s 60’s and much of the 1970’s should be considered. Many children might have come from worse circumstances from outside the Schools, but I accept their criticism that the Schools were basic and often lacking, and it is difficult to answer a child’s sense of deprivation, no matter what the explanation might be.

4.7 The Schools provided and institutional response to social needs and were inevitably limited by the thinking and attitudes of the time. Throughout most of their existence, the Schools appear to have operated on a rudimentary principle of containment with little or no child-care policy available in the country until the late 1970’s.

4.8 The boys themselves came from a very broad range of circumstances, some detained from simple economic need or lack of parents, and some as a result of juvenile crime. The institutionalised care of such a mixture of boys, whose ages ranged generally from eight to sixteen years had serious difficulties and limitations. I doubt that any of them had any liking for their detention, and I suspect their feelings varied from helplessness and dislike, to profound resentment. The boys were obviously conscious of an atmosphere of detention, and didn’t have the general acceptance of an educational Institution that boys of ordinary boarding school would have had, some bringing a sense of injustice after Court proceedings. The experience of the Schools for boys who lacked family support or who had fallen into juvenile crime, was a hardship that inevitably colours their views with dislike. Explanations of circumstances are hardly satisfactory for them, and whatever the cause of hardship might have been, I believe many have a sincerely held belief of abuse or neglect that is created or worsened by emotional circumstances. Most complaints contain painful general accounts of childhood suffering to which there is no adequate response.

4.9 I acknowledge that by present standards, the Institutionalised care in St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse and St. Patrick’s Upton was harsh for young boys who felt isolated, emotionally deprived, and over-disciplined. Many complaints have put greater emphasis on emotional hardship rather than physical hardship, with is testimony of the fundamental limitation of large-scale Institutional care. A number of former boys of the Schools express praise or appreciation from some members of the Rosminian staff. But those staff with talent or spirit for child-care could only work in adverse conditions. Others worked in the spirit of charity and self-sacrifice in difficult and unrewarding conditions and many spent the greater part of their adult lives in one or other School.

5 Corporal Punishment

5.1 Corporal punishment should be seen in an institutional context where the maintenance of control was an absolute necessity, and in particular in the light of social attitudes of the time. It is true that the ideal of child-care in Industrial Schools was to avoid corporal punishment when possible, but that unfortunately provided an inspiration without the means of achieving it. The absence of child-care training left staff at the Schools without any practical policy other than personal judgment, which was fallible and always hard-pressed. The use of corporal punishment as a general disciplinary measure, and its use also as a punishment or deterrent for bedwetting, absconding and other infractions, in times when corporal punishment was generally socially acceptable, produced a disciplinary environment in which the distinction between punishment and abuse could become blurred.

5.2 Corporal punishment was generally given by the boys’ Prefect. Official punishment was given by slapping with a leather strap on the hands or bottom, although the latter was not done from the late 1960s. Punishment was usually given in the Prefect’s office, although boys might be struck directly at the moment of the offence.

5.3 Absconding was a significant problem for schools which were not closed or secure. Its causes varied from rebellion against work and detention, to teenage bravado. It presented a threat to general discipline and was often the occasion for wrongdoing outside the school. Occasionally, punishment for absconding was given in front of other boys as a deterrent. Regrettably, also, I understand that at certain periods, in both schools, a punishment was imposed of cutting off a boy’s hair. With regard to St. Luke’s Ferryhouse this punishment was sometimes accompanied by making the boy kneel for a period in the school yard. I understand that this practice was stopped by the School Manager.

6 Bedwetting

6.1 Bedwetting was a persistent difficulty amongst some of the boys. In past decades the psychological nature of the difficulty was not understood, and it was thought that deterrence through corporal punishment or embarrassment in front of others, was an appropriate remedy. I can appreciate by present standards, that such a response was obviously humiliating and unfair. Other efforts were made to solve the problem by waking the boys during the night, or checking for wet beds. It is possible that in some cases the later practice might have been interpreted as abuse. A similar impression might have been got from the inspection of the boys after showering, but whilst now obviously intrusive, I believe that neither action was considered wrong or abusive. Until the late 1960s, boys who wet their beds were often made to wash their own sheets or carry their mattresses to the boiler house to dry. They slept in a separate part of the dormitory. When boys went to summer camps at Woodstown, County Waterford, the problem was much greater, as laundry facilities were limited. There, a Prefect might have to wash soiled sheets.

7 Education

7.1 The primary schools at St. Patrick’s Upton and St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse were subject for most of their existence to inspection by the Department of Education’s School Inspectors, although they were not recognised and funded as National Schools until the early 1940s a positive attitude did not exist among the education community at large, towards the category of National Schools, until very recent decades.

7.2 Teaching throughout most of the history of these schools was done by lay staff. Records show some successes in education, bearing in mind the difficulties that boys often had, and the frequent lack of previous schooling, but I cannot comment on individual cases. I do, however, think that boys with difficulties detained in Industrial Schools would not generally have made particularly easy students. Again, modern experience would show the special needs in this area.

8 Abuse

8.1 Physical Abuse:

8.1.1 Amongst complaints that I have read, there are descriptions of punishment which if found to be true indicate that physical abuse did indeed occur. In some cases I am able to make this broad judgment only with the benefit of hindsight, and because attitudes to corporal punishment have now changed radically. In other cases, if the complaints are proven they describe what was clearly excessive punishment or abuse. Whilst in many instances, I cannot tell what circumstances might have led the person accused to do what is alleged, I cannot overlook the deeply-felt sense of injury apparent in complaints, and I accept that abuse occurred in corporal punishment and discipline imposed at the Schools. I acknowledge and apologise for the suffering that this has caused.

8.2 Sexual Abuse

8.2.1 In 1979 the Institute first became aware that one of it’s members had been sexually abusing children at St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse. Action was taken immediately to remove the offending member, he was sent for treatment and he was very shortly thereafter dismissed from the Institute. The Resident Manager was advised by the Consultant Psychiatrist to the school that no additional action be taken with regard to the children who had been abused. The abuse and the removal of the offender was reported to the Department of Education.

8.2.2 In the following year an allegation of attempted sexual abuse was made against another member of the Institute. It was alleged that this assault occurred when the person, who was a visitor from overseas, was visiting St. Joseph’s School for the Visually Impaired, Drumcondra. This allegation was investigated at the time, and no action, apart, from a caution, was taken against the accused.

8.2.3 No other allegations of sexual abuse against any of our members came to our knowledge until the 1990s. In recent years we have adopted the protocol of the Church in these matters.

8.2.4 Some complaints, particulary of sexual abuse, are so shocking as to evoke disbelief based on horror and the sincere hope that all that is alleged did not occur. I am absolutely appalled that children were sexually abused while in the care of our institute. I can say that we did not have any knowledge that such abuse was occurring and I feel that had we known of such abuse we would have acted to stop it. To those who have been sexually abused while in our care I offer our unreserved apology and an assurance that we will play our part in bringing about healing. I cannot adequately explain why we failed to identify sexual abuse in the past. I suspect it has something to do with the deviousness of the offender and the outlook of society in general, including ourselves. I do not believe that it is matter of simple failure on our part and it certainly is not a matter of concealment.

8.2.5 Until the 1970s or perhaps even the 1980s, sexual abuse was not recognised as an issue in child-care. This reflected, I believe, a wider social position in which sexual issues were not addressed. There was little or no knowledge of the nature, circumstances and effect of sexual abuse. This also affected the recognition of many circumstances what would now be considered inappropriate. Most people associated with child-care in Ireland before the mid/late 1970s were unprepared for the issue of child abuse. I could envisage that within an Institution, an allegation might be disbelieved or not fully appreciated. Without clear guidance for recognition and response, I believe it was impossible to cope with the ramifications of an allegation of sexual abuse. Modern experience shows the continuing danger of abuse, and the potential harm of a false or unproven allegation.

8.3 Peer Abuse

8.3.1 Peer abuse appears to have been a recognised fact in both Schools, and was generally punished as ‘immorality’. I cannot say to what extent it occurred in St Patrick’s Upton or St. Joseph’s Clonmel. Neither can I say anything about the extent of the awareness of this problem.

8.4 Inquiry Into Abuse

8.4.1 The passage of time since most of the events described in complaints make it impossible to conscientiously investigate or respond properly, particularly in relation to specific events. Surviving records show, generally, the social context of the boy’s admissions, and their general progress through the school. They also show the financial limitations in which the schools functioned, as well as reflecting contemporary practice in child-care. There is not indication of any wilful neglect or recognised abuse. Particular events in a boy’s life at school many years ago, that he alone might recall, rarely coincide with any information that is available from the school’s history. In some instances, events are described as having occurred privately and could not have been witnessed by others.

8.4.2 Responding to allegations of abuse creates a deep conflict. Those in the Institute, alive or dead, who worked in the Schools to the best of their abilities deserve to have their names and dedication upheld. But I feel equally for anyone who has carried a burden of abuse from childhood, and for whom recognition is an essential part of healing.

9. Conclusion

9.1 In the foregoing I have tried to represent the general attitude of our Institute. I would hope that anything I have said might not lead to the conclusion that I am trying to justify abuse in any shape or form.

9.2 The Institute of Charity has committed itself to the care of children in need since the middle of the 1800s. For nearly all of that time the economic and social climate has not been favourable to good child-care. Our members have worked hard and committed themselves tirelessly, often for many years in the same institutions, in circumstances which would not be tolerated today by any worker and which would probably be judged as detrimental to health and safety. Constant efforts were made to improve the Schools by our Resident Managers and staff. However, the difficult circumstances, which prevailed in society generally were accepted as such by all. Regrettably this meant that there was general hardship in our Institutions, but again, this was accepted in the climate of the time. Discipline and punishment were the order of the day, and it does not seem that the State was dissatisfied with these matters and the general running of the Schools. Sometimes physical punishment happened to excess. I do not believe that a deliberate culture of physical abuse and intimidation prevailed. I accept, however, that many children lived with a degree of fear.

9.3 I accept that sexual abuse did occur, though I cannot speak about individual cases, and I can say that knowledge of sexual abuse did not exist among our members. I am deeply saddened and horrified by the allegations of sexual abuse and I apologise unreservedly for the hurt caused to too many children.

9.4 I believe that most of our members who worked in the Industrial Schools did their very best in the circumstances which existed at the time, and I believe that many, if not most, of the children who attended our Industrial Schools experienced a mixture of happiness and sadness, and I accept that for many of the children their childhood was predominantly a time of sadness and deep loss.

9.5 To some extent I am deeply unhappy about a process which seeks to judge the past by the standards of today and which will also not have the active and full voice of all those who lived during the time in question. I will endeavour to assist the Commission in its efforts to seek the truth about the past and to bring about healing.

9.6 I have made this Statement on the basis of information which is presently available to me. When I have had an opportunity to review fully the files held at the Department of Education and Science relating to St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse and St. Patrick’s Upton, I may need to expand further on some issues.


Signed:_____________________

Fr. Matthew Gaffney

Dated: 3rd May 2002

Each page has been stamped by the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 14 May 2002.