Tag Archives: John McClean


Last night.

‘Off The Ball’ on Newstalk.

Former Ireland rugby captain Brian O’Driscoll addressed the conviction of his former coaching mentor John McClean (top), who admitted to sexually abusing 23 boys in the 1970s and 1980s at Terenure College before taking up a role with UCD rugby academy.

He was unaware, he said, of any allegations against McClean until 2018, when victims came forward to tell their stories in Village magazine.

Mr O’Driscoll told ‘Off the Ball’ host Nathan Murphy:

“If I had suspected anything, I would never have spoken in a positive manner, like that time at Blackrock College (on BT Sport in 2017), or any other time,” he said.

“I was completely shocked by this when it came to light a few years ago. Other people say that the dog in the street knew about it. I can honestly say that anyone in the rugby circles I was involved in never knew anything about it.

“I went for a walk in the park on Sunday and bumped into some ex-teammates from UCD and Leinster schools – we were all discussing it and everyone was equally shocked by the findings of it.

“There is no way that you wouldn’t speak as teenagers about those kinds of rumours, there is no way you would go on summer tours if you had any concerns whatsoever.

“ It was just an absolute shock. I had him as a quiet, reclusive sort of person but then I suppose you don’t always know the person behind the mask.”

Brian O’Driscoll brands his former mentor, paedophile rugby coach John McClean, a ‘total and utter fraud’ (Newstalk)

RollingNews

Meanwhile…

…The IRFU, the Leinster branch and UCD rugby club all say they have not received any complaints of abuse against McClean. In a statement issued they said: “The crimes committed by John McClean are abhorrent and the devastation that his actions caused to so many people is unforgiveable.”

But is that good enough for a university ranked within the top 1 per cent of higher education institutions worldwide? Is it good enough from one of the top rugby clubs in Europe or good enough from Irish rugby’s governing body?

“The dogs in the street knew,” said the survivor. “The dogs in the street.” Do we choose not to believe him? Again. Do we choose to re-victimise him by denying what he says is true?

Johnny Watterson: I do not buy the apology around paedophile John McClean (Irish Times)

John McClean abused 23 boys while a teacher at Terenure College. He was appointed to head up UCD’s rugby academy

Via Gavin Cummiskey in the Irish Times (full article at link below):

…Everyone in south Dublin rugby circles knew McClean.

If this reporter heard the rumours about him when I was still a teenager in the late 1990s, can the decision makers back then honestly say the same whispers failed to reach their ears? If the answer is ‘we heard nothing’ then there is a far deeper problem than we already perceive it to be.

…Despite decades of sexual assault, John McClean wielded enormous power as UCD director of rugby. Terenure College and UCD must explain how he was able to skip from one rugby institution to another unchecked.

In the summer of ‘96 McClean the coach toured Australia with the Ireland schoolboys, some of whom have since become central figures in the professional game, before taking up his new job on the Belfield campus.

….If he had already admitted to abusing one boy – as court records show – then Terenure would have warned the IRFU and UCD before he ascended to one of the most influential positions in Irish rugby, right?

….His victims, one of whom described him as “evil personified,” and the public deserve to know precisely what happened between the summer of 1996 and the beginning of that first UCD term in the autumn of 1997. If for nothing else than to ensure that history does not repeat itself…

The Offload: John McClean questions can no longer be silenced (Gavin Cummiskey, The Irish Times)

Earlier: Blocking A Victim

RollingNews

Damien Hetherington outside the Central Criminal Court last week after the sentencing of paedophile rugby coach John McClean. Damien was abused by McClean in 1973 at Terenure College when he was 12-years-old

Yesterday.

Good times.

Previously: Moved To Another Parish

John McClean abused 27 boys between 1973 and 1990 while he worked for Terenure College.

Yesterday

At the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

During rugby coach John McClean’s sentencing hearing, it was revealed that he admitted to one of the allegations of sexual abuse in 1996.

He left Terenure College in 1996 after certain allegations were made and took up a role coaching rugby with UCD [Director of the college’s Rugby Academy].

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told that when this allegation arose in 1996, McClean had meetings with Father Robert Kelly, the then Provincial of the Carmelite Order in Ireland, and during one of these meetings McClean admitted to the allegation.

The court heard the first complaint to gardaí ­ in the case was made in 2016.

When providing gardaí­ with notes of this meeting during the investigation into these offences, Fr Kelly said he had no recollection of this, but that if it was in the notes then “it was true”.

Former Terenure teacher admitted sex abuse 20 years before Garda inquiry (Irish Times)

Wednesday:‘The School Principal Was Told About The Abuse In 1979, But Did Not Accept The Allegations Were True’

RollingNews

From top: Terenure College; John McClean

This afternoon.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court

Details of the abuse of children at Terenure College over a period of 27 years were outlined the ahead of the sentencing of rugby coach John McClean.

Via RTÉ News:

The 76-year-old is a former rugby coach and English teacher. He was also involved in fitting costumes on boys for school plays.

He abused nine victims in an office, eight during preparation for the school plays, three during sporting activities and three in the classroom.

The court also heard today that a school principal had been told about the abuse in 1979, but did not accept the allegations were true.

The details of what McClean did to six of the boys has so far been outlined in court.

The court heard they were 12, 13, 14 and 15 years of age at the time.

In their victim impact statements, the boys, who are now men in their 50s, spoke of how the abuse damaged their lives.

One said he can never forget it, while another spoke of subsequent failures in relationships with women.

Some told how they left the school early, did not complete State examinations and were deprived of an education in life.

Former Terenure College teacher abused boys in office, class, during sport and before plays (RTÉ)

Previously: Guilty

John McClean

This morning.

John McClean, a former Director of the Rugby Academy at UCD, has pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting 23 schoolboys at Terenure College in the 1970s and 80s.

John McClean, 73,  was an English and drama teacher, who also coached rugby at the school. He took up the position as director of rugby in UCD in the 1990s.

The charges were prompted by a 2018 article from Gemma O’Doherty, who spoke to a number of Mr McClean’s victims in Village magazine.Her report claimed some gardai were aware of allegations against Mr McClean for decades.

Former rugby coach John McClean pleads guilty to indecent assault of 23 schoolboys (RTÉ)

Previously: John McClean on Broadsheet

 

Yesterday at Dublin District Court, former rugby coach John McClean was charged with more than 30 counts of assaulting schoolboys at Terenure College between 1973 and 1989.

Mr McClean, a former director of UCD’s rugby academy, is charged with indecent assault on nine boys over a 17-year period.

The charges were prompted by work from investigative journalist Gemma O’Doherty, who spoke to a number of Mr McClean’s alleged victims in Village magazine in the past year.

The reports claimed some gardai were aware of allegations against Mr McClean for decades.

Ms O’Doherty covered the matter last night on her Livestream with court correspondent Tom Tuite. Watch here.

Former rugby coach charged with more than 30 counts of assaulting schoolboys at Terenure College (Irish Independent)

Terror-nure (Gemma O’Doherty, Village)

Rugby’s Dirty Secret (Gemma O’Doherty, Village)

Pic via Village