Mary Lou McDonald: State failed Waterford survivors, demands action

It has impacted every part of our lives, personal lives, work, relationships, mental health, every single part of our lives. It's always there. Those are the words of Colin Power, one of the survivors of Bill Keneally. And I want to begin by paying tribute to those sitting in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery, who as young boys suffered so much, and all of their families who join them with us today. No words spoken in this chamber will erase the profound hurt done to you by this man or make up for the failures of the state to protect you. You fought so hard and for so long to force the authorities just to listen, to investigate, and to finally bring Bill Keneally to justice. And it is a testament to each one of you that you never gave up, nor gave in, and that you gave everything to see this day. It was a long road that you shouldn't have had to walk, a fight you should never have had to fight, but you did with courage, with dignity, and with compassion. Supporting each other along the way, leaning on each other in very tough times, sticking together no matter what, because you were up against it all. The terrible pain, the injustice, when state authorities should have done everything to protect you from this monster, let you down catastrophically and left you in harm's way. Those with the power to stop Keneally had countless opportunities to do just that, but they failed again and again. And to understand the gravity of that failure we must understand the gravity of Keneally's evil crimes. He was a predatory sexual abuser of young boys in Waterford during the 70s and 80s, targeting boys between the ages of 11 and 17, and for years this was an open secret in Waterford. Local sporting clubs were his stalking ground, using his position in basketball and tennis and soccer clubs to lure young boys. An incredibly dangerous man, a predator who perfected an ability to groom, to exploit, and to blackmail his young victims. Not alone did he sexually abuse these boys, but he tortured them psychologically. And the level of depravity, of perverse calculation, of heartless, soulless evil that this man perpetrated is beyond words. Repulsive sexual abuse. He manipulated, intoxicated, isolated, and blackmailed innocent boys. Keneally was insidious. He exploited the pure innocence of these boys. Jason Clancy and Colin Power tell how Keneally gifted them brand new Liverpool and Manchester United jerseys. To Kevin Keating it was an American football magazines, to Paul Walsh it was Nike runners, and to other boys it was chipper food, cans of beer, lifts in his car. It was a modus operandi that Keneally repeated again and again. All cynically, demonically calculated to get close to young boys. That was the depth of Keneally's depravity. And he was allowed to run rampant throughout Waterford for years. The scale of failure documented in the report of the commission is breathtaking. The report outlines in harrowing and shocking detail how Gardaí, senior church figures, school leaders, members of Keneally's wider and very, very powerful family, the Southeastern Health Board, all had opportunities to stop him and they failed to take them. And each and every time Keneally was set free, allowed to continue abusing young boys. And while the commission found no evidence of collusion or cover-up, Jason Clancy hit the nail on the head when he said this. They enabled him to run rampant through this city for four decades. The worst paedophile in the history of the state. The repeated failures to stop Keneally happened in an era in which failure to protect children was hardwired into how this state operated. In recent times we've heard the trauma of Dundera women and the Cray Lane men recite again as they continue to campaign for justice. We've witnessed survivors of abuse in industrial and reformatory schools stage a 51-day hunger strike outside Leinster House just to get the government to listen, never mind to act. And it wasn't until 2012 that Keneally would face any form of accountability when Jason Clancy, then a grown man, made a formal complaint against Keneally, bravely waiving his anonymity in order to pursue full justice. This was followed by others. A brave step broke decades of state inaction, but it was only the start of a long, gruelling fight for the survivors. They endured another four years of an investigation until Keneally was finally convicted in a court of law in 2016 and he was convicted of further crimes in 2023. And of course it took so many more years for the establishment of the Commission of Investigation, 2018, and another eight years until this landmark investigative report of the Commission was published last month. 14 years from the time Jason Clancy made that complaint until this day. The state apology today is of course welcome, but the government's response can't end there. Government must act on all the recommendations of the Commission and crucially government must now deliver on its promise to provide survivors with redress, with compensation. It is indeed very, very wrong that no steps have been taken yet to fulfil that commitment, so the lip service must stop from today. Urgent steps must now be taken with survivors and in the appointment of a mediator without any further delay. This process must be expedited to ensure full justice and full redress. Bill Keneally died where he belonged, behind bars, and today we name his evil crimes and the lifelong pain he inflicted on his victims. However, we cannot allow that horror to fully dominate the entirety of this story, because the bravery of the men in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery today, of every victim of Bill Keneally who broke anonymity and those who didn't, those who came forward and those who have not, all of you, your courage, your resilience, your refusal to give up has brought us today. You exposed the truth. You brought Keneally to justice. You stopped him. The state apology wasn't offered. It was hard won by you for every victim of Bill Keneally, and today your strength and dignity, your compassion shine brightly and so powerfully above this darkness. And to the young people in each of your lives, your sons, your daughters, your grandchildren, let me say this. I hope that when you look at your dad's face you see a hero. A man who faced unspeakable trauma and still found it within himself to seek truth, justice, and to overcome. He did all of this not just for himself but for you too, so that you would know the lengths to which he would go to protect you, to protect any child, and to comfort and heal the young boy that still lives within him. To right a terrible wrong, that is the measure of your father. So every time he laughs or smiles, every time he holds you in his gaze, I hope you see this incredible courage, this honour, and this unbreakable character. And know this too. Bill Keneally didn't win. The horror of his abuse didn't win. Love won. The young boys of Waterford won. Your dad won. The past will always be there, but the rest of this life belongs to him, to you, to your families, because that is the future that your father has made possible.