Since the arrest of David Murray in 1995, his case has hung over the residential child-care sector like a dark cloud. People who had known him spoke of their shock that he had been abusing children. But the shock grew as the scale of the abuse became apparent.
Though Murray was convicted in relation to sexual abuse at St Joseph's Orphanage in Kilkenny, and of his foster-children, the fact that he had also worked in homes in Cork, Drogheda, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire gave a nightmarish dimension to the case.
"I know people who are absolutely devastated by this," said Ms Judy Doyle, spokeswoman for the Resident Managers' Association. Child-care workers are "shocked and stunned". The association has been discussing staffing levels, monitoring and supervision in residential homes with Mr Frank Fahey, the Minister of State for Health and Children.
"The judgment will be met with a kind of relief by people.
Since the arrest of David Murray in 1995, his case has hung over the residential childcare sector like a dark cloud.
People who had known him spoke of their shock that he had been abusing children. But the shock grew as the scale of the abuse became apparent.
Though Murray was convicted in relation to sexual abuse at St Joseph's Orphanage in Kilkenny, and of his foster-children, the fact that he had also worked in homes in Cork, Drogheda, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire gave a nightmarish dimension to the case.
"I know people who are absolutely devastated by this," said Ms Judy Doyle, spokeswoman for the Resident Manager's Association.
Child-care workers are "shocked and stunned".
The association has been discussing staffing levels, monitoring and supervision in residential homes with Mr Frank Fahey, the minister of State for Health and Children.
"The judgement will be met with a kind of relief by people in the area," a senior social worker said yesterday.
