Willie Walsh ‘deeply’ sorry for repeating unfounded claims about Bishop’s niece

THE former Bishop of Killaloe has publicly apologised to the niece of Bishop Eamonn Casey, who claims she was raped and sexually abused by her uncle.

Patricia Donovan, the niece of the high-profile bishop, claims she was raped and abused by her uncle from the age of five, beginning in the late 1960s.

The former Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh, 84, told the Irish Mail on Sunday that he wants to “unreservedly apologise” to Ms Donovan after it emerged he was used in a smear campaign to tarnish her allegations. 

After Ms Donovan made her complaint against Bishop Casey in 2005, he told Bishop Walsh she had also made “unfounded allegations” against others. 

Ms Donovan previously made a formal complaint to gardaí that she was sexually abused as a child by her brother, Fr Michael Donovan, who was forced to step down from his ministry in 1995 after an allegation of sexual abuse was made against him by an altar boy.

The Killaloe Bishop went on to repeat a series of claims Bishop Casey had told him on Clare FM in December 2005. Bishop Walsh's remarks were reported in a number of national newspapers at the time and have been repeated since.

In an article from 2005, Bishop Walsh was quoted as saying: ‘He [Bishop Casey] assured me that there wasn’t any foundation for this allegation’.” 

This week, Bishop Walsh told the Irish Mail on Sunday he was “deeply sorry” for any hurt caused. He also told the paper he was not aware of any other allegation by Ms Donovan when he spoke on local radio, nor was he aware of her allegation against her brother, until he was told by the newspaper last week.

He said: “I want to apologise unreservedly to Patricia if I caused her hurt by my comments at that time. I deeply regret any hurt caused and apologise to her. I am deeply sorry. I was simply quoting Bishop Casey. I regret quoting Bishop Casey at that time. I should not have expressed confidence then that his name would be cleared.

“I did not say and had no intention of saying that her allegation had no credence nor did I make any judgment on her. I did not say that her allegations weren't true, or that there was no foundation to them. If she or other people interpreted my comments as such I deeply apologise.”