Press Releases15 Sep 10

Statement on Bethany Home, Rathgar, from the Archbishop of Dublin

It is a matter of grave concern and deep pain that in the first half of the last century Bethany Home, which was operated by an independent charity with a Protestant ethos, should have been inadequate to its task. As Archbishop of Dublin, I lament the fact that women and children suffered through the reported failures of the charity. My paramount concern is a pastoral one for those women and children who suffered through physical neglect or abuse of any kind.  Whilst recognising the apparent poverty of the Bethany Home, the allegations of a lack of human kindness and compassion are deeply disturbing.  As the largest church within the wider Protestant community, we recognise that many residents of the home would have been Church of Ireland members and that the Church of Ireland community engaged in public fundraising for the home. Furthermore, I acknowledge that some clergy and laity were involved in a personal capacity in the management of the Bethany Home.  I am deeply concerned at the information revealed by recent research and the Church of Ireland has repeatedly petitioned the State to have the home brought under the remit of the Residential Institutions Redress Board.