Chapter 14 — John Brander

Mr Rothe continued his quest to have his concerns, namely the exposure of Mr Brander and a general inquiry into the abuse of children, dealt with, in contacts with a number of politicians, some of whom raised the issues with Ministers for Education.

Conclusions

1.By permitting Mr Brander to be eased out of the Congregation, the Christian Brothers did nothing to prevent him continuing in a career of teaching, despite his repeated sexual interference with children and knowledge as to the danger he represented to them. The Provincial at the time of his dispensation said that ‘we could not allow him in future to have any contact with boys as it would be dangerous for himself and for the boys’. 2.Within days of leaving the Congregation, Mr Brander took up a position as Principal of a National School, which would have necessitated some form of application process to the School Manager, who was most likely the parish priest of the area. It is scarcely credible that an accurate reference could have been furnished, so the possibilities are that a favourable reference was given which satisfied the employer or that the latter did not seek a reference. In either case, there is ground for suspicion. 3.During the course of his subsequent career, Mr Brander’s sexual and/or physical abuse of children came to the knowledge of his employers, including a parish priest and senior members of two separate communities of nuns, a Bishop, members of the clergy, the Gardaí, the Department of Education and an Inspector thereof, and colleague teachers, but on each occasion he was able to continue his career. 4.By choosing to take the easy way out, the persons and bodies with knowledge of Mr Brander’s activities must bear heavy responsibility for the damage he did to children throughout his career and following his retirement.