Former TD Brendan Kenneally ‘no longer a member of Fianna Fáil’

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association

Former TD Brendan Kenneally resigned from Fianna Fáil after an inquiry into the way allegations of abuse against his cousin, paedophile basketball coach Bill Kenneally, were handled.

Government Chief Whip Mary Butler, Fianna Fáil TD for Waterford, said she never met Bill Kenneally, but his cousin Brendan had canvassed on her behalf.

She stopped short of saying Fianna Fáil should apologise, but did apologise herself “if there’s anything I have ever done that caused trauma, distress, or hurt” to his victims.

Bill Kenneally, who died on Thursday aged 75, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the sexual assault of 15 boys between 1979 and 1990.

One of Ireland’s most notorious sex offenders, Kenneally used his position as a basketball coach to abuse teenagers in Waterford.

The report was published on Tuesday. Brendan Kenneally was no longer a member of the Fianna Fáil party by Tuesday evening

A Commission of Investigation report published last week found that there was a “clear and serious dereliction of duty” by Gardaí, who became aware of abuse by Bill Kenneally at a meeting in December 1987.

The report found knowledge of his activities became known to two senior Garda officers in Waterford, as well as Bill Kenneally’s uncles – retired TD Billy Kenneally Snr and Monsignor John Shine – in the late 1980s.

A state apology will be made to his victims next month, but Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the report “doesn’t implicate the Fianna Fáil party at all”.

The report says that Bill Kenneally’s uncle, Billy Kenneally Snr, knew in late 1987 that his nephew had sexually abused at least one child.

It said that Brendan Kenneally, the son of Billy Kenneally Snr, knew in 2001 that Kenneally had seriously sexually abused two boys in the 80s and 90s.

Both had been TDs and senators for Fianna Fáil, and the Kenneally family were a political dynasty in Waterford.

The public inquiry report said of Brendan Kenneally that his actions in 2001 “at the very least fell substantially below the standards the Commission would expect from a TD of Mr Kenneally’s experience”.

“He should have spoken to Bill Kenneally and advised him to resign from Waterford Viking basketball club, and he should never have allowed him to continue to canvas and act as tallyman for him or the Fianna Fáil party.

“Despite the strong denial of Brendan Kenneally in evidence, the one constant in the actions of all three, Billy Kenneally Snr, Monsignor Shine and Brendan Kenneally was a failure to bring the matter into the public domain at least to the extent of reporting the matter to the statutory agencies responsible for child protection.”

In an interview on WLRFM’s Déise Today programme, Mary Butler said that Brendan Kenneally voluntarily resigned as a member of the party “earlier this week”.

“The report states very, very clearly that he fell far below the standards that you would expect. The report was published on Tuesday. Brendan Kenneally was no longer a member of the Fianna Fáil party by Tuesday evening,” she said.

“I don’t believe I should have asked Brendan Kenneally to step away from Fianna Fáil, because Brendan plays a very, very small role in Fianna Fáil.”

Asked if Fianna Fáil would issue an apology, she said the party “is not implicated as an organisation”.

“Your obsession with Fianna Fáil in the last two weeks has been unbelievable,” she said to the presenter on WLRFM.

“I am heartbroken, as Mary Butler TD from Waterford, as to how those victims were treated over many, many years.

“The saddest part of it is that if actions had been taken in ’87 and if action had been taken in 2001, not as many of the victims would have been abused by the most prolific paedophile that we probably will ever have heard of.

“I am the Minister for Mental Health, but first and foremost, I’m a mother, and I’m a Fianna Fáil TD in Waterford, and I apologise on my own behalf if there’s anything I have ever done that caused trauma, distress, or hurt for any of the victims of Bill Kenneally.”

Fianna Fáil have been contacted for comment.