REPORT INTO ATHENRY BASED LECTURER PUBLISHED

Date Published: 15-Apr-2008

The HSE has published a report into procedures that allowed an Athenry-based lecturer remain in his job at Athlone IT after he was convicted of sexual assault charges in Holland.

Dr Niall McElwee, of Rockfield Athenry resigned from his position in July last year after it emerged that he had been convicted of the offences in Amsterdam in June 2004.

He was head of the Child and Youth Care Learning Centre at AIT.

The Department of Justice here became aware of the incident in the summer of 2004 – the Dutch authorities wrote to the department offering it the pportunity to prosecute Niall McElwee in this jurisdiction.

However, the department did not notify the Midland Health Board or the Department of Health about the convictions.

Niall McElwee continued to work as a lecturer in childcare policy for another three years

The report is critical of personnel within the Health Board, who became aware of the incident and did not inform the designated child protection and social work personnel in accordance with the Children First Guidelines.