Second order has 'no more money for victims'
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A SECOND religious order, which ran institutions where children were abused, says it has no money to make any additional contribution to a compensation fund for victims.
The Rosminian Order and the Good Shepherd Sisters have both apologised for the hurt caused to children in their care but said they were unable to make any contribution on top of what they have already paid.
The revelation comes a week after several other congregations, including the Christian Brothers, offered an additional €200m in cash and property.
At the weekend, both the De La Salle Brothers and the Sisters of Louis said they were putting up €1m each. The Sisters of Mercy have yet to state their contribution but it is expected to be substantial.
The monies and property are in addition to the €128m agreed in 2002 between the congregations and former minister for education Dr Michael Woods.
However, the Rosminians have told the Taoiseach in a letter, a copy of which has been seen by the Irish Independent, that it has debts of €4.5m and can't pay the extra money demanded by the Government in the wake of the Ryan report into institutional abuse published in May.
But its poverty plea was rejected by prominent abuse survivor Michael O'Brien, who attended the former St Joseph's industrial school in Ferryhouse, Clonmel, which was run by the order until recent years.
In its letter to Mr Cowen, the order committed itself to contributing financially "towards counselling and other healing endeavours as best we can, despite our indebtedness", but said it "clearly" cannot make a further financial offer to follow the €7.1m it paid in 2002.
It acknowledged that, while none of its members had been convicted or prosecuted for abuse, "serious abuses did occur at our two industrial schools" -- located at Ferryhouse and at St Patrick's Upton in Cork.
But Mr O'Brien said the Government "must refuse to accept" the plea of poverty.
- Conor Kane and John Walshe
Irish Independent
