This article is from page 14 of the 2006-11-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE death of Peter McCloskey took place just days after a mediation meeting between himself, representatives of the Clerical sex victims support group One In Four and church representatives.
He was abused while serving as an altar boy at the age of 10 in the Diocese of Limerick by Fr Denis Daly, a priest who had been run out of a parish in Sydney for a ‘moral lapse.’ He had served as a priest in Sydney in the 1950s and 1960s and was a supply priest in Caherdavin in 1981.
Following Peter’s death, a meeting between members of his family and representatives of the Limerick Diocese, including Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray, took place on April 23. The sides later issued a joint statement. It was agreed that the sides would “work together” on the issue. However, no further statements have been issued since then.
In the April statement, the Bishop acknowledged that he accepted the truth of Mr McCloskey’s experience of clerical child sexual abuse. He also acknowledged that there was a failure on the part of the diocese to inform itself as to Fr Daly’s suitability for the ministry.
The diocese accepted that the information available at that time should have prevented Fr Daly from taking up ministry in Limerick.
Peter’s mother Mary called on Dr Murray to resign as Bishop of Limerick over the way in which he and the diocese handled the case.
Peter had been locked in a four-year battle with the Diocese after responding to church calls in 2002 for priests’ victims to come forward and tell their stories. His search for the truth saw him visit Sydney in February 2004, where he demanded to see Fr Daly’s file.