Scientologists give almost €1m to fund loss-making centre

Cash support revealed as worker is convicted over abusive calls

THE Church of Scientology poured almost €1m into its controversial community centre near Tallaght last year.

The state-of-the-art community centre lost €397,423 in 2018 but was propped up by almost €931,416 from Scientology entities in Los Angeles, Florida and its Religious Education College, accounts show.

The support from the global church means that the loss-making centre in Firhouse can continue as a going concern into the future, auditors noted. The accounts show it had €506,762 cash in the bank in December last year, and a small overdraft of €22,067. It spent €76,500 on cars and was run by an average of 60 “volunteers”.

Separate accounts filed last month for the Scientologists’ National Affairs Office on Merrion Square disclosed assets of just €3,117. The Scientologists’ Religious Education College in England pays the expenses of the Dublin office, “donating” €193,926 last year.

The financial statements offer a limited glimpse of what the Church of Scientology is spending in Ireland.

It has invested heavily here in recent years, snapping up the Merrion Square building for €4m in 2016, and the Firhouse community centre for €6m in 2017.

An affiliate organisation, Narconon, acquired a €1m property in Co Meath to convert to a drug rehabilitation centre, prompting protests from local people.

The church says it is doing good works but critics accuse of it being a cult that is trying to recruit new members. Micheal Martin, the Fianna Fail leader, has described Scientology as a “cult” that could be damaging to young people.

The Church of Scientology’s community centre came under the spotlight last week when the manager of its restaurant was convicted of making an abusive phone call to an autism rights campaigner.

Bantry District Court was told that Nathan Moore (22), from Tallaght, began as a volunteer and is now a member of the Church of Scientology.

He was described in court as an immature man who left school early. Judge James McNulty suggested that the Church of Scientology had a duty of care towards Nathan Moore and said he could suspend his 90-day sentence if it agreed to pay €10,000 to the Irish Autism Society: “The court would expect that those in authority or leadership in the Church of Scientology would go surety to ensure his appeal.”

The victim in the case, Fiona O’Leary, told the Sunday Independent yesterday that she hoped the church would pay the €10,000 to the charity “so that he won’t spend Christmas in prison”.

“The judge seemed to be calling on Scientologists to be accountable for this young man,” she said.

The incident occurred in December 2017, when Moore was 20. The court heard how Fiona O’Leary rang the Scientology centre under an assumed name because she was concerned about Scientology involvement in an upcoming funfair and wanted to find out more. She spoke with Nathan Moore, then a volunteer.

He later found out the caller was not who she had said she was and phoned back. Fiona O’Leary recorded the call, in which Moore verbally abused her and threatened to “box her up and down”.

Ms O’Leary told the Sunday Independent the calls had a frightening and lasting impact on her children, two of whom have autism.

She said the verdict “was really important for my campaign work, and for my son. But what I would really like is an apology from the Church of Scientology to me and to the autism community.”

A campaigner against what she described as “quack treatments” and anti-vaccine promoters, Ms O’Leary said she was offered a “cure” for her child’s autism by Scientologists — an intense course of saunas and vitamins known as a “purification run-down”. The HSE has previously said such treatments, which cost €1,500, have no basis in science.

In a statement, the Church of Scientology & Community Centre said it is taking legal advice on the proceedings “in which it had no direct involvement” and could not comment.

It said the community centre is a “key local venue for sporting, cultural, heritage and charitable initiatives” and has “delivered religious services including over 2,000 Scientology courses” helping people with everyday problems.