Chapter 7 — Artane

Introduction

Phase I of the hearings into Artane took place on 15th September 2005 with a public session at the Alexander Hotel, Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Evidence was heard from Br Michael Reynolds, who described life in the Institution and outlined the Congregation’s view as to how the Institution operated.

Phase II commenced on 26th September 2005 in the offices of the Commission and continued in private in accordance with the legislation until 16th December 2005. The Investigation Committee invited 78 complainants to give evidence as part of the Artane inquiry, of whom 48 attended and gave evidence. 26 respondents, either Brothers or ex-Brothers gave evidence. In addition, the Committee heard from two other witnesses who were in a position to give general information about the Institution.4

In Phase III of the Investigation Committee’s inquiry into Artane, Br Reynolds returned to give evidence on behalf of the Congregation at a public hearing which took place on 22nd and 23rd May 2006. This session focused on issues that arose as a result of the private hearings into Artane and the documentary material furnished to the Commission.

In addition to oral evidence, the Investigation Committee considered documentary discovery material received from a number of sources, namely the Christian Brothers, the Department of Education and Science, An Garda Síochána, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Archbishop of Dublin and the Health Service Executive.

There are Department of Education General and Medical Inspection Reports for most of the period of the investigation. Files from the headquarters of the Christian Brothers in Rome yielded evidence of cases of sexual abuse considered by the Congregation to have been admitted or proven against individual Brothers. Visitation Reports of the Christian Brothers were another valuable source of information. Infirmary records were scant and were shown to be misleading in some cases. There was a statutory requirement to maintain a punishment book, which was to be examined by the Department of Education Inspector, but no such book was maintained.

An unusual feature about Artane was that there was independent evidence as to conditions there. The evidence was firstly that of Fr Henry Moore, who was chaplain to Artane by appointment of the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr J.C. McQuaid, from 1960 to 1967. Fr Moore was the author of a confidential report on conditions in Artane, which he wrote in 1962 at the request of the Archbishop. He also gave evidence about the Institution to an Inter-Departmental Committee on juvenile crime in the same year, as a result of which controversy arose between officials of the Department of Justice and the Department of Education. Fr Moore was exceptionally qualified to comment on residential schools and the Christian Brothers, because he had spent nearly 10 years as a resident of St Vincent’s Glasnevin, an orphanage operated by the Christian Brothers. Fr Moore’s evidence is discussed in detail later in this chapter.

The Investigation Committee also heard evidence from Dr Paul McQuaid, consultant psychiatrist, who was a regular visitor to Artane in the late 1960s.

The Investigation Committee engaged experts to prepare reports on Artane. Mazars, a firm of accountants and financial consultants, analysed the accounts of the Institution and produced a report which was provided to the Congregation for comment and response. The issues concerning Artane are analysed in the Mazars’ report which is dealt with in Vol IV. As indicated above, Mr Ciaran Fahy, consulting engineer, prepared a report on the buildings and lands of the Institution, which was similarly sent for comment and which is also annexed (to the chapter).

The Investigation Committee received submissions from the Christian Brothers in relation to Artane in February 2007. A number of complainants and individual respondents also made written submissions on the oral and documentary evidence that emerged during the inquiry.

The Christian Brothers made similar submissions regarding Artane as they made in relation to other institutions. In particular, they submitted that: an analysis of all the evidence before the Commission strongly suggests that, at a time of significant economic deprivation in the State, the Congregation fully and properly discharged its legal and moral obligations to care for the boys in Artane and that it did so notwithstanding limited financial and related support from the State. Further, in spite of considerable restrictions, the Congregation adopted a progressive and reforming approach to childcare which became particularly apparent in the 1960s. When one takes all of the evidence before the Commission into account, there can be no doubt that, at all times, the welfare and best interests of the boys was the paramount concern of the Congregation and of its members who worked in Artane. The evidence would also suggest that the quality of care which was thus provided to the boys was, in all the circumstances, of a particularly high standard.

The Congregation accepted that the regime was mainly one of physical care and did not encompass much in the way of emotional attention. The Brothers denied that the Institution was generally an abusive one, and their fundamental contention was that Artane was a positive Institution which generally was a force for good.

With regard to sexual abuse, they acknowledged that such incidents had happened, and they greatly regretted them. They said that, as a Congregation, it did not tolerate such behaviour and the available evidence, they claimed, showed that they responded appropriately according to the norms of the time, even if present standards would condemn them.

As to allegations of physical abuse, the Congregation was also generally defensive. It maintained that this issue had to be seen in the context of the time, when corporal punishment was permitted, not only in industrial schools but in all schools, and was also common in homes across the country. Moreover, the Christian Brothers’ own rules forbade excessive punishment and encouraged a minimalist approach to the physical punishment of children. Where excessive punishment occurred, it was disapproved of, and the records of the Congregation showed that, where instances came to light, they were the subject of comment and criticism. A Disciplinarian was employed in the School to deal with all serious breaches of discipline, and that promoted consistency of treatment.

They maintained that there was overall a good relationship between Brothers and boys in Artane, and the picture of a frightening regime with a climate of fear was a misrepresentation of the situation.

The positions adopted by individual respondents were more consistent with the evidence of the complainants.