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| 21 May 2025 | |
| News from Past Pupils |
4th Restore Together Newsletter - May 2025
“We all need to work together so that more victims/ survivors are aware that confidential, professional, help & support is available to them – no Spiritan boy (now man) who suffered abuse should be left behind.”
What is Restore Together?
Restore Together is a voluntary support group for victims/ survivors of sexual abuse in Spiritan schools (Blackrock College, Willow Park School, Rockwell College, St. Mary’s College, St. Michael’s College & Templeogue College). It is made up of victim/survivors and non-victims. Together we advocate for the provision of structures to aid healing from the trauma of abuse. www.restoretogether.ie
In this, our fourth, newsletter we cover:
1. Victim/survivors perspectives on waiting for justice from the Spiritans
Restore Together hears heart-rending stories on an ongoing basis not only from victims but also their wives, children and other family members. We want to try and convey those stories to a wider audience and allow victims voices to be heard and understood more widely.
We recently received the following communication from a victim which illustrates the pain many victims are feeling. It is shocking to think some of our former classmates are suffering like this as a result of what happened to them in school.
"I feel frustrated with the Spiritans’ progress on the redress scheme. It's simple. It is an injustice to abuse a child. The Spiritans caused it. What's the problem? They are stalling.
I don't know how long I will be around. I can't hold out the way things are going. [text deleted]. I could be homeless with no money and no family support. I've had enough. I don't think I am doing anyone any good. It's not just frustration. It's despair. It's abandonment. The pain has been caused by a rich organisation that will not take responsibility.
Because the trauma was so bad, I am still that child and they will not let me move on. It feels like I am still being abused. I was gang raped and I relive it every day. It is a living hell of nightmares and daymares for which you need drugs or alcohol.
How much money have they spent on lawyers and accountants? They are hiding behind the lawyers. Do the decent thing. Maybe we need to go public.
2. Update on Restore Together’s discussions with the Spiritans on Redress & Testimony Gathering
Since November, Restore Together has continued to engage with the Spiritans and present the victims’ voice to them. This continues discussions that go back years.
Restore Together is extremely frustrated by these discussions and the lack of progress in relation to implementation of a comprehensive Redress Scheme and Testimony Project. Restore Together has repeatedly stressed the need for the greatest urgency in implementing both, not least because of the advanced age of many victim/survivors.
Regrettably, the Spiritans continue to fail to move at the pace needed by victims/ survivors.
Meanwhile the Spiritans continue to leave some victims/survivors with little option but to follow a traditional legal route which the Spiritans themselves agree is traumatic and potentially damaging for victim/survivors.
While claiming they currently have no money to start the Redress Scheme, the Spiritan Order has managed to find the resources to settle 125 legal cases (€8.8m plus legal and other costs) taken by victims/ survivors since 1998 with 52 (41%) of them taken after RTE’s ‘Blackrock Boys’ documentary aired two and a half years ago, in November 2022. These cases have settled for a total €3.4m (plus costs). Cases settled more recently have averaged €65,000 in damages, which is approximately €8,600 less than cases settled before that.
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/02/25/spiritans-have-paid-88-million-in-settlements-to-125-abuse-survivors-since-1998/
Settling cases taken by litigation while stalling those opting for a non-adversarial process is treating one set of abused past-pupils differently to those who either can’t or don’t want to engage in litigation for a variety of reasons.
Restore Together has had no substantive discussions with the Spiritans on Redress and Testimony Gathering since 12th February. Our next meeting has been agreed for the 22nd of May.
On 28th February Restore Together issued a press statement calling on the Spiritans to commence a comprehensive Redress Scheme by 1 June 2025. The Spiritans have not made any formal response to this call and have given no commitment to a start date for a redress scheme or finalise the terms of such a scheme.
At Easter, Restore Together published an article calling Spiritan priests to reflect on the adequacy of their individual and collective response to child abuse in Spiritan schools.
An Easter reflection by Philip Feddis | News | Blackrock College Union
The Irish Times published a summary of the article on 7th May:
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/05/05/spiritans-accused-of-putting-own-interests-before-those-of-abuse-victims/
3. Report on Restore Together’s meeting with PPUs of Spiritan schools on 1st April
Restore Together met with representatives of Blackrock College Union, Rockwell College Union, St Mary’s College C.S.Sp. Past Pupils’ Union and St Michael’s Past Pupils’ Union at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, on 1st April. Templeogue College Union were not able to attend on this occasion. It was the second meeting between Restore Together and the Unions.
Restore Together updated the Unions on the position of each of the six strands of the Spiritan Restorative Programme (Apology, Counselling/ Therapy, Restorative Justice, Redress Scheme, Truth Telling/ Testimony Gathering and Memorialisation.
In summary the Spiritans made a public apology on 16th November 2022. Counselling and Restorative Justice meetings have been ongoing for a couple of years. The Memorialisation strand is being researched and planned but will not be undertaken until all the other strands are completed. Neither the Redress Scheme (which has been drafted) nor Truth Telling/ Testimony Gathering have been activated.
The Unions asked Restore Together a range of questions regarding the Restorative Programme and interactions between Restore Together and the Spiritans.
The Unions present undertook to meet individually with the Spiritan leadership at their centre in Kimmage, Dublin. At time of writing the Blackrock, Rockwell and St Mary’s unions have all met the Spiritans separately and St Michael’s Past Pupils’ Union has a meeting in late May.
4. Report on President’s Award given to Restore Together from Blackrock College Union
“No more a taboo - it’s time to talk about abuse”
Blackrock College Union President Karl O’Neill presents the President’s Award to Restore Together at the Union Dinner on 25 April at The Shelbourne Hotel.(From left to right: Eoin MacNeill, Brendan O’Connor, Karl O’Neill (President, BCU), Philip Feddis, Corry McMahon, Gearóidín Charlton and Conor McDonnell)
Back in November 2024, at the BCU Business lunch, BCU President Karl O’Neill told the gathering of 500 people that he intended to make addressing the abuse that took place in the school a key priority for his term as President. It was clear from the standing ovation for victim/survivors present that there was considerable support for this issue.
Karl has been true to his word. The BCU/RT working group meets every two weeks to advance the agenda of educating, informing past-pupils about abuse and bringing help to victims. BCU is also an important part of the Memorialisation working group set up by Restore Together and Blackrock College, Willow Park Senior School and Willow Park School to look at how the issue of abuse is to be remembered, understood and memorialised by the three schools on the Williamstown campus.
On 25th April 2025, at the BCU dinner, Karl presented the President’s Award to Restore Together.
The standing ovation for the award from all present made it clear that the past-pupils stand in solidarity with their classmates who were abused.
Restore Together is extremely grateful to receive the award on behalf of all those who suffered abuse in the school. The award is a hugely symbolic statement from the Union that those who suffered abuse have a very special place in our school community. It also sends a message that there should be no more silence about this issue, it is an issue that should and must be talked about openly.
5. How You Can Help Fellow Past-Pupils, Friends, Brothers:
a) Tell anyone you know who is, or may be, suffering as a result of sexual abuse inflicted while under the care of Spiritans that there is professional support available to them through a non-litigious, Restorative Programme. It is free of charge including therapy/ counselling and redress (see contact details below). Encourage them to consider availing of it.
b) Write to or call the Provincial of the Spiritan Order in Ireland, Fr Brendan Carr, asking him to implement the full Restorative Programme, including a redress scheme, now, without further delay for the welfare of victims/ survivors.
Fr. Brendan Carr C.S.Sp., Congregation of the Holy Spirit Spiritan Provincialate, Kimmage Manor, Dublin 12. D12 P5YP.
Telephone: 01 – 4125 228
Email: hello@spiritan.ie
c) Make sure others who were at Spiritan schools also know that there is professional support for victims/ survivors of sexual/abuse whom they may know and encourage them to get involved in calling on the Spiritans to keep their publicly stated commitments made in November 2022 and December 2024 to implement the full Restorative Programme without any further delay.
Restore Together’s objectives for all victim/survivors are:
TRUTH – JUSTICE – PEACE – RECONCILIATION – HEALING.
You can learn more about Restore Together on our website: www.restoretogether.ie
Restore Together Committee; Gearóidín Charlton, John Coulter, Corry McMahon, Philip Feddis, Eoin MacNeill, Conor McDonnell, Eugene Harrington, Brendan O’Connor, James White, Conor Dempsey, Andrew Doyle.
