A warm welcome to all visiting this website. Our intention is to provide you, the visitor with access to a range of information and tools, which the Church is putting in place to safeguard our children and young people.

The Catholic Church in Ireland is made up of many bodies, organisations, adults and children. In recognition of the important role children play in the Church, and in taking cognisance of the Church’s role in safeguarding children, the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church was established in 2006 (for membership follow link. Following the publication of Our Children, Our Church: Child Protection Policies and Procedures for the Catholic Church in Ireland, the Irish Bishops Conference, the Conference of Religious of Ireland, and the Irish Missionary Union, sought to develop a unified approach to child protection across Ireland. One vehicle, through which this aspiration could be achieved was the establishment of the National Board, which has the remit of advising the three Sponsoring bodies cited above on best practice relating to child protection policies and procedures.

The inaugural Chair of the Board, Judge Hedermann, retired from his position in 2007 and was replaced by Aidan Canavan. Chairman Aidan Canavan has retired from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, some months earlier than originally planned, due to ill health reasons. John Morgan will serve, in the short term, as Acting Chairman.

The National Board established a Safeguarding Office in 2007 and appointed its first Chief Executive Officer – Ian Elliott - in August of that year. Apart from its advisory function, the Board aims through the development of policies and procedures, to guide all constituent members of the Church, in the direction of best practice in safeguarding children. The third function of the Board is to monitor practice in the various parts of the Church, through processes of audit and review.

Founding Principles

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All children have a fundamental right to be respected, nurtured, cared for and protected. This right is embedded in Gospel values, best practice guidelines and international and domestic laws.

In light of the teaching of the Church, civil legislation and guidance, every part of the Church must be committed to taking the necessary steps to:

• demonstrate the right of the child to protection from harm is paramount

• cherish and safeguard children and young people

• foster best practice

• demonstrate accountability through establishing effective structures

• support Church organisations and personnel in safeguarding children

• establish safe recruitment and vetting practices – aimed at preventing those who pose a risk to children from holding positions of trust

• maintain codes of behaviour – having clear guidelines that set out what is and is not acceptable behaviour as an essential part of keeping children safe

• offer safe activities for children - helping ensure they can learn, play and pray in a safe environment.

Pope Benedict XVI in his Ad Limina address to the Irish Bishops on 28 October 2006, spoke of the ‘deep wounds’ caused by the abuse of children within the Church, Pope Benedict stressed the need to


The Pope went on to say, ‘the Church in Ireland will grow stronger and be ever more capable of giving witness to the redemptive power of the Cross of Christ.’

The National Board for Safeguarding Children seeks to work collaboratively with Church Leaders, clergy, Lay representatives, congregations and children and young people to recognize and deal with the historical abuse of children, and to proactively try to ensure the safety and well-being of children in all current church activities.