Recruits to the Defence Forces’ Apprentice School in the 1980s and 1990s were “tortured, not trained”, the Defence Forces Tribunal has been told.

Recruits to the Defence Forces’ Apprentice School in the 1980s and 1990s were “tortured, not trained”, the Defence Forces Tribunal has been told.

Recalling the day he joined the 54th Platoon at Devoy Barracks in Naas, Co Kildare, in September 1989 at the age of 16, Denis Kennedy said: “I walked into hell.”

He told the tribunal he witnessed a senior officer — known as 2Lt B and who cannot be named for legal reasons — assaulting him and other recruits, including kicking a fellow recruit in the ribs as he did press-ups.

He also said he saw the officer order another recruit to eat cigarettes from “the dregs of an ashtray”.

One of Mr Kennedy’s closest friends, Oliver Mullaney, died by suicide on June 22, 1991, two days after allegedly being repeatedly humiliated by 2Lt B.

Previous witnesses to the tribunal have said 2Lt B ordered Mr Mullaney to not only dance on a chair but also kiss another recruit.

Mr Kennedy said the abuse was widely known about, telling tribunal senior counsel Michael Cush that more senior officers above 2Lt B would have been aware.

“They would have been well aware,” he said.

“They were watching, they were well aware.”

Asked about the most senior rank to have known, he said it was the “commanding officer” — meaning at least a lieutenant colonel.

The tribunal later heard that the unnamed commanding officer has denied being aware of the abuse suffered by Mr Mullaney.

Read full article by Neil Michael at the Irish Examiner website below.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41868969.html

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