Timeline of the cover-up started 36 years ago
1970-1993 - Brother Aidan Clohessy is principal of St Augustine’s.
1985 - The St John of God (SJOG) order receives the first complaint of abuse against Brother Aidan. It is dismissed internally. Gardaí are not informed.
1993 - Brother Aidan is sent on a new mission to Mzuzu, a remote city in northern Malawi, where he houses street children at his home. 1997 - Brother Aidan is told not to work with children after a second abuse allegation is received in Ireland. He continues to do so.
1998 - When a third allegation is received in Ireland, SJOG informs the then-Eastern Health Board that Brother Aidan is ‘no longer involved in services to children’. He continues living and working with children in Africa.
1999 - Three further sets of allegations against Brother Aidan are received.
2002 - The Redress Board is established and SJOG contributes €1m, securing indemnity from any cases settled through the board. Brother Aidan continues living and working with children in Africa even as payouts are made to his Irish accusers.
2003 - Allegations against Brother Aidan now number 10. His order writes to him in Malawi to tell him ‘not to have direct contact responsibility for programmes attended by children’. He continues living and working with children.
2004 - SJOG misinform the Ryan Commission into clerical child abuse, saying their first abuse case appeared in 1996 after Brother Aidan left for Africa. In fact a complaint had been made against Brother Aidan in 1985 – before he was sent to Malawi.
2011 - As the number of allegations against Brother Aidan reaches 14, his order conducts a risk assessment which recommends ‘therapeutic input’. The review concludes he is of low risk of sexual abuse given that ‘he is not in a position of authority over children’. But Brother Aidan remains unsupervised and responsible for children’s services in Malawi.
2012 - Brother Aidan is withdrawn from public ministry and returns to Ireland where new allegations continue to be received by SJOG. It appears no one in Malawi is told why he has suddenly left. SJOG inform gardaí of the original 1985 allegation against Brother Aidan – 27 years late.
2017 - An investigation by the Irish Mail on Sunday exposes the Brother Aidan cover-up and traces new alleged victims in Malawi and Ireland. Irish government and international donor funding to SJOG Malawi is suspended. Gardaí launch new investigations as new survivors come forward. 2019 - After a two-year investigation, the Garda file into Brother Aidan is sent to the DPP. Following delays due to the pandemic, a decision is now imminent.
2020 - Civil cases against Brother Aidan, his order and others are lodged in the
High Court by survivors who missed out on redress.
2021 - The Garda Ombudsman begins investigating the way gardaí handled the case of Con Carroll – one of the first survivors to make a statement two decades ago.