Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

McCoy Report

Report of an inquiry in Ireland

The McCoy Report is an eight-year (1999-2007) inquiry by Elizabeth Healy and Kevin McCoy into the Brothers of Charity Order's "Holy Family School" in Galway, Ireland, and two other locations. The Report was published by the Health Service Executive in December 2007.

01Abuse of disabled children over an extended period

The report, which was begun in 1999 and made public in December 2007, found that eleven brothers and seven other staff members were alleged to have abused 21 intellectually disabled children in residential care in the period 1965-1998. By 2007, two members of staff were convicted of abuse, eight had died and the rest had retired. It emerged that the Order had attempted to transfer at least one accused brother to another place.

02Vulnerable people let down by society

Jimmy Devins, a junior government minister, regretted that "some of the most vulnerable people in society were let down in the past". Brother Noel Corcoran, head of the Order's services in Ireland, apologized. However the McCoy Report was criticized by Dr Margaret Kennedy for not naming the sex offenders who were convicted or dead, and for interviewing just 21 out of 135 complainants.

03Special government committee

In 2010, Kennedy has also criticised the Irish parliament's special committee to enquire into the McCoy Report for not challenging the Brothers who arranged the movements of abusers between Galway, Lota (near Cork city) and Liverpool. Police collusion is suspected and "it seems no one was called to account".

Watch videos about McCoy ReportExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article McCoy Report, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.