Limerick Post [Ireland]
May 7, 2006
http://www.limerickpost.ie/dailynews.elive?id=7307&category=Daily-Sun
The founder of the One in Four organisation, announced that he is to stand for the Progressive Democrats in his native Wexford at the PD conference in Limerick.
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One in Four offers support to victims of clerical abuse and Colm O'Gorman was most recently involved in the case of deceased Limerickman, Peter McCloskey.
The announcement has been warmly welcomed by Minister of State for health and children, Tim O'Malley who describes Mr O'Gorman as being "one of the most patently sincere and articulate voices to have emerged in Irish public life over the last 20 years".
The Minister went on to say that "it was precisely because of the courage and sincerity demonstrated by people like Mr O'Gorman that our country had been forced to face up the enormity of the damage that had been done to countless, innocent children through institutional perversion and cruelty and state neglect".
And he doubted whether anyone could read the Ferns Report without gasping in disbelief and rage at the sheer injustice that had been done to generations of children.
Mr O'Gorman was sexually abused by the late Fr Sean Fortune between 1981 and 1983.
And he settled his action for negligence against the Diocese of Ferns for 300,000 euro a number of years ago, after claiming the diocese knew that the priest posed a threat to him at the time.
Mr O'Gorman and the One in Four organisation continues to be a great source of support for other victims of clerical sexual abuse. He had been in talks with former Caherdavin alter-boy, Peter McCloskey, before his death.
Mr McCloskey claimed to have suffered sexual abuse in 1980 and 1981 from Clare born, Fr Denis Daly when he was a 10-year-old altar boy in the parish of Caherdavin.
And now after his death, Mr O'Gorman is calling for the strict confidentiality agreement imposed by the diocesan legal team to be lifted so that "we can challenge the church's response to Mr McCloskey's allegations".
He has also criticised the Limerick diocese for failing to carry out a proper background check on Fr Daly, who was ordained in Australia and had been investigated for a "moral lapse" there.
Minister O'Malley said he had absolutely no doubts that Mr O'Gorman would bring the same integrity and clarity of vision to the Dail that he had always marked his public contributions to the debate on how we should proceed to make children safer from predatory individuals.
"Mr O'Gorman and people of similar courage had made all of us face up to our responsibilities to defend the most helpless members of our society," said the Minister of State.
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