Irish Government Pulls Funding From Sex-Abuse Counselling Service

Dublin, Ireland, Oct 20, 2003 / 22:00 pm

The Irish government refused to give an abuse-survivors group further funding this week after deciding that its projected costs were "exorbitant," reported The Irish Catholic.

The group, One in Four, offers advocacy and counselling services to victims of sexual abuse; it has counselled 156 people since March 2003. The government's decision follows evidence published last week that false-abuse claims were made against two Christian Brothers.

The organization has already received Euro425,000 from the Department of Health and Children and had projected costs of Euro1.7 million over the next three years. It has also already received Euro16,000 from the Catholic Church's counselling service.

One in Four director Colm O'Gorman said the decision would force the organization to close. However, the health minister said he was willing to meet with the group to discuss financial support within the context of the professional National Counselling Service.

The founder of LOVE, a group which provides a forum for people who had positive experiences of Church-run institutions, is "very worried" by the large amount of false claims that are emerging. Florence Horsman-Hogan also told The Irish Catholic that she objects to the falsely accused paying their own legal fees, "often out of their own pocket, while their accusers get state support to make unsubstantiated claims."

O'Gorman said people who have made false allegations should be prosecuted by the state.