A FORMAL STATE apology is to be made in the Dáil to the victims of notorious child abuser Bill Kenneally on 14 July, the Minister for Justice has said.
Jim O’Callaghan also said he would like to see a mediation process put in place for those who have made claims against the state for dereliction of duty.
Kenneally died in prison last week while serving a near 20-year term in prison for indecently assaulting 10 boys at various locations in Waterford in the 1980s.
His death came just days after the publication of a major state report into his abuses and how authorities dealt with reports of his crimes in the decades before he was finally brought to justice.
The report found a “clear and serious dereliction of duty” on behalf of An Garda Síochána and stated that knowledge of his activities became known in Waterford to two senior garda officers, as well as a senior clergyman, in the late 1980s.
However, Kenneally was not brought to justice prior to a formal complaint by Jason Clancy in December 2012.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan met with a number of Kenneally’s victims last week, after which it was confirmed that a state apology would be issued to them.
“There will be a formal apology in the Dáil on 14 July,” he told RTÉ’s This Week programme this afternoon.
He said he had the “privilege” of meeting the survivors and victims of Kenneally, and that he indicated to them that “I couldn’t avoid the fact that in the report, there’s a clear finding that there was a dereliction of duty on the part of An Garda Síochána back in 1987″.
“I am the minister with responsibility for An Garda Síochána, that’s why I apologised to them when they came into the Department of Justice to see me. I know they met the Taoiseach last week, he did the same,” he said.
O’Callaghan said the report recommended that the Law Reform Commission should consider the absence of a criminal offence of “misconduct in public office” in this country.
He said the process of putting that on the statute book “has started”.
The minister said he is also aware that victims of Kenneally “quite correctly” have made claims against the state for a dereliction of duty.
“I’ve been engaged with the Attorney General and the Taoiseach in respect to this. I’d like to see a mediation process put in place to resolve that.”
Kenneally – from Laragh, Summerville Avenue, Waterford – was a former tallyman and canvasser for Fianna Fáil for decades and a part of the powerful Kenneally political dynasty in the city.
His uncle Billy Kenneally Snr was among those who became involved in the initial 1987 enquiries, while his cousin and former TD Brendan Kenneally had learned about the abuse in 2001.
During a public hearing of the Commission of Investigation in 2024, Brendan Kenneally accepted in evidence that knowing Bill Kenneally was an admitted paedophile, he continued to allow him to canvas for him at general elections and to act as a tallyman at election counts up to 2011.
O’Callaghan was asked on RTÉ’s This Week if Fianna Fáil should make an apology to Bill Kenneally’s victims.
“I don’t believe Fianna Fall owes an apology,” he said.
“If you look at the report, what it says in respect to Brendan Kenneally is that he should never have allowed Bill Kenneally to canvass for Fianna Fáil. If a senior person in an organisation does something wrong, the organisation does not become responsible for that wrongdoing unless it was aware of or endorsed the behaviour.”
He added: “If you can produce a finding from Mr Justice White’s report to me that shows culpability on the part of Fianna Fáil, of course, I would apologise.”