ARTANE HEARINGS 1

THE HEARING COMMENCED, AS FOLLOWS, ON THURSDAY, 15TH SEPTEMBER 2005

THE CHAIRPERSON: Good morning everybody. Now, Mr. McGovern.

MR. McGOVERN: Good morning, Chairman, Members of the Commission. This is a public hearing into Artane Industrial School. The hearing will follow the same format that has been used in the past year or so when investigating other institutions and will be in line with statements made by the Commission on the question of procedures to be followed. This means that the evidence regarding Artane Industrial School will be heard in three phases.

Phase 1, commencing this morning, will consist of the hearing of Br. Michael Reynolds, Deputy Leader of St. Mary's Province, Ireland, one of the two provinces of the Christian Brothers in Ireland. This province would have had responsibility for the northern half of the country, north of a line from Dublin to Galway and would have included Artane. Brother Reynolds' evidence will be based upon a submission which aims to describe life in Artane in the period coming within the remit of the Commission, including the Congregation's view as to how the institution operated and what life was like there, and is intended to serve as a general background information on the institution. I would like to make it clear, Chairman and Members of the Committee, that it is appreciated that some, or perhaps even all, of the evidence which he gives will not be accepted by some who were present in the institution at the relevant time. If there are issues raised which require resolution or clarification, they will be returned to in Phase 3 at a later stage. When this brief public hearing comprising Phase 1 has been completed, Phase 2 will begin. This will involve the hearing of evidence from a number of persons who have filed statements with the Commission outlining abuse suffered by them at Artane.

The Committee have prepared a schedule of hearings involving relevant witnesses who may have evidence to give with regard to the institution. These hearings will commence on Monday, 26th September and are expected to conclude in mid-December. These hearings will take place in private as provided for in the legislation governing this Commission of Inquiry. After the Committee has had an opportunity to consider the evidence given in both Phase 1 and Phase 2, it is proposed to return to a public hearing which will deal with any contentious matters outstanding or any other relevant issues concerning the management and operation of the institution. At that stage the Investigation Committee will deal with issues which have been identified in Phases 1 and 2.

A decision has been made to leave over these contentious issues until Phase 3 since by that time the Committee will have had an opportunity of hearing evidence from persons who were in the institution at the relevant time rather than now, when the Committee can only have a limited picture as to what contentious issues are likely to arise. When a clear picture emerges as to the issues to be dealt with in Phase 3, interested parties will be notified and informed as to the procedures which will be adopted.

At this public hearing, evidence will be given by Br. Michael Reynolds, who is Deputy Leader of St. Mary's Province, Ireland, of the Congregation of Christian Brothers. Since 1956 the Congregation of Christian Brothers in Ireland was divided into two provinces for administrative purposes; St. Mary's Province for the northern part of the country, north of a line from Dublin to Galway, and St. Helen's Province for the southern half of the country, south of that line. Artane comes within the area of responsibility of St. Mary's Province. Reformatory schools were set up under legislation in the mid-19th Century to provide for the needs of juvenile offenders.

It soon became clear that an alternative system was necessary in order to provide for the care, protection, education and training of children who were not guilty of any offence but who, because of destitution, neglect or lack of adequate parental care were deemed to be in need of residential care. This is how the industrial school system came into existence. The system which operated in Scotland and England was extended to Ireland under the Industrial Schools Act passed in 1868. These schools were to provide for children who in present day terminology would be 'put into care'. Historically there was a difficulty in getting most local authorities to contribute towards the maintenance of children in industrial schools and an ongoing complaint of those managing these schools was the inadequate level of funding provided by the Exchequer.

After the passing of the Industrial Schools Ireland Act, 1868, Cardinal Cullen, the then Archbishop of Dublin, approached the Christian Brothers to ask them to assist in running the task of running these institutions and, having acceded to this request, Artane Industrial School opened its doors to its first pupils on 28th July 1870. The school was established under the 1868 Act with the intention of catering for neglected, orphaned and abandoned Roman Catholic boys. Its original intake was of three pupils and it rapidly grew in size to a point where it was housing 700 boys in 1877 and reached its certified size of 825 boys before the end of the 19th Century.

During the 1940's the numbers in Artane were close to 800 and ranging from a low of 794 pupils to a high of 818. The average was 802. The 1950's showed a very significant decline in numbers; the total ranged from a low of 422 in 1958 to a high of 762 in 1950 at the beginning of that decade. The average in the 1950's was 620 pupils. The decline in population continued in the 1960's with a numbers ranging from 392 in 1960 to 24 in 1969. The average number during that period was 286 pupils.

These figures do not include voluntary or Health Board admissions which were low and only amounted to 262 boys for the entire 30 year period. Thirteen were admitted in the 1940's, 113 in the 1950's and 136 in the 1960's. Reasons for boys being committed to Artane included begging, not having any home or settled place of abode, having a parent who did not exercise proper guardianship, not attendance at school, destitution or being orphaned or involved in petty crime. From 1954 children guilty of criminal offences were not admitted to Artane.

This was because it was felt that it was not beneficial to have boys who had committed crime mixing with boys who were there for other social reasons. The vast majority of boys admitted to Artane came from Dublin and most of the rest of them came from other parts of Leinster. The school continued to operate until the decision was made in 1967 that the institution should be closed. This decision was influenced by a number of factors, including changing attitudes towards childcare, the industrial schools system and the inadequacy of State funding for such institutions.

The school finally closed on 30th June 1969. Most of the boys in Artane were either discharged or transferred to other institutions. Some 22 pupils remained on in order to pursue their secondary education in St. David's Secondary School which was nearby. Chairman, that is just setting out a brief history of the school and the type of boys who came to be there over the period of its operation. I now propose to take Br. Michael Reynolds through the statement which the Christian Brothers have submitted to the Commission.

THE CHAIRPERSON: Yes, very good.