upper
class killer - Malcom McArthur
Allegations
were made by Phil Hogan - Fine Gael TD for
Carlow/Kilkenny, that Malcolm McArthur is a
paedophile and he was an associate of a
"covert" paedophile, operating in a
position of authority in the SE Health Board.
article
from the Irish Independent web site --26th April 2002
Woods to
explore official's 'link to sex ring'
A
FULL inquiry will be launched into allegations that a
top Department official responsible for investigating
sex abuse was himself linked to a Dublin paedophile
ring, Education Minister Dr Michael Woods confirmed
last night.
Speaking
in Cork, Dr Woods admitted he was shocked by Fine
Gael TD Phil Hogan's allegations in the Dail.
Dr
Woods also said he wasn't sure when Deputy Hogan
initially raised the issue in Leinster House that a
Department official was directly linked with the
allegations.
Dr
Woods stressed that he found the allegations
"very disturbing" and insisted that every
effort must be made to assist the Lefoy Commission in
ascertaining the truth.
"We
have set procedures for dealing with this kind of
thing and those procedures will be fully
followed," Dr Woods said.
He
confirmed that he has asked for full details from
Deputy Hogan and any available evidence to support
the allegations to be submitted to both the
Department and the Lefoy Commission.
"This
matter will be fully investigated. We have procedures
and processes and I am determined they will be fully
followed," he said.
Dr
Woods stressed that his Department will "fully
co-operate with and assist" the Lefoy Commission
and their handling of the matter.
The
Commission, he added, had been doing "an
excellent job" and deserved every support in its
work.
His
comments came after Deputy Hogan claimed that a
Department official had systematically helped to
cover up child sex abuse, including gross indecency,
rape and serious sexual assaults.
The
Department official - who retired several years ago -
is named in a submission to the Lefoy Commission from
a young man who worked as a teenage prostitute in
Dublin.
Incredibly,
the young man alleged that he met the Department
official in the company of convicted murderer Malcolm
McArthur in the 1970s. He claimed he later had sex
with the Department official.
The
young man had earlier been a resident at St Joseph's
Industrial School in Clonmel, Co Tipperary and met
the Department official during one of his visits.
Deputy
Hogan has demanded to know why the Department did not
take action 20 years ago amid mounting evidence of
abuses of children and youngsters in care facilities
in Tipperary and Kilkenny.
Ralph
Riegel
