McCullough Report
The McCullough Report is a report published by the Irish bishops in June 2005 following allegations of sexual abuse at St Patrick's College, Maynooth.
Media reports prompt inquiry
The inquiry leading to this report was commissiond by the bishops following media reports that complaints of sexual harassment of junior seminarians at Maynooth in the early 1980s had not received a proper response. Dr. Gerard McGinnity did not contribute to this inquiry.[1]
Complaints made against Monsignor Maynooth
In June 2002, Denis McCullough was retained by the bishops to investigate the allegations reported in The Irish Times that complaints were made alleging sexual harassment of seminarians at Maynooth College in the early 1980’s and that those complaints did not receive a proper response. Specifically it was alleged that complaints had been made by seminarians to the bishops and Trustees of Maynooth College that Monsignor Michael Ledwith who was then Vice President of the College had sexually harassed seminarians.
The Report's author found that "all parties to whom I spoke are agreed that there were no complaints made by the seminarians themselves to Bishops about sexual harassment by Monsignor Ledwith of seminarians in Maynooth College".
Bishops slow to investigate allegations
McCullough's report, published on 16 June 2005, found that, while the seminarians had not complained about Ledwith's alleged sexual abuse to the bishops directly, “concerns of apparent propensities rather than accusations of actual crime or specific offences” had been communicated to a number of bishops by the senior dean of the college. McCullough concluded “that to have rejected the senior dean’s concerns so completely and so abruptly without any adequate investigation may have been too precipitate, although, of course, to investigate in any very full or substantial manner, a generic complaint regarding a person’s apparent propensities would have been difficult”.
Reaction from the archbishop of Armagh
The Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Seán Cardinal Brady stated following the publication of The McCullough Report that "those seminarians who expressed concern in the early eighties were acting in good faith. We regret any hurt felt by those involved and that the investigation in 1984 was not more thorough".[2]