More Than 140 Allegations Of Abuse Investigated By Irish Defence Forces

20 cases involved a member of the force & a minor

Over 140 allegation of abuse have been investigated by the Irish Defence Forces over the past 40 years.

20 of the alleged cases of sexual abuse involved a member of the force & a minor.

On the 15th March this year, Minister for Defence Simon Coveney wrote this letter to Vice Admiral Mark Mellon, the then Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces:

"There has been much coverage recently across the print and broadcast media on the issue of sexual abuse and bullying within the Defence Forces. These allegations appear to be historical rather than current and appear to cover all three elements of the Permanent Defence Force. They have been highlighted by a retired member of the Defence Forces and it is acknowledged that except in relation to his own experiences, they are not first-hand accounts. While that brings its own difficulties, they cannot be discounted completely on that basis and if proven, would constitute serious criminal offences. The allegations are also set out in numerous emails sent to my office, the Defence Forces and an Garda Siochana.

The details provided are disturbing and need to be addressed in some form to ensure that they can be replied to in a sensitive and appropriate manner. There is a need to ensure that processes and procedures withstand some scrutiny. For these reasons, could you please provide me with a detailed report setting out:

• whether the Defence Forces were aware of these or other similar type allegations prior to current media coverage,

• the actions that were taken in relation to them,

• the outcome of those actions,

• what and how many similar type issues are outstanding within the DF and

• courses of actions in relation to these outstanding matters and timeframes. I am aware that some of these issues, on which I received a full brief recently, were treated within the Protected Disclosures framework."

Writer Ken Foxe, published the 140 page report on his Twitter page, yesterday afternoon.

It was prepared by military authorities for Minister Coveney.

On Monday morning's 'Kildare Today', Dr. Tom Clonan, Security Analyst & retired Army Officer discussed the report noting 21 years ago, as part of his University thesis he "raised all of these issues in forensic detail 21 years ago", which prompted a Government enquiry.

Dr. Clonan noted "nothing meaningful was done in that 20-year period".

Listen back to Dr. Clonan discussing the issue on Monday's 'Kildare Today':