PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
JUDICIAL REVIEW of a decision by the Residential Institutions Redress Board not to accept a late application, on grounds of exceptional circumstances, is to begin at the High Court this morning.
The board, in a written decision dated December 19th, 2008, rejected an application from “Peter” (not his real name) as being late and refused to find exceptional circumstances existed which would have allowed his application.
The deadline for applications to the board was December 15th, 2005. The only exceptions allowed were for people suffering from a mental incapacity or where there were exceptional circumstances. Such circumstances were not defined in the 2002 Act that set up the board.
Peter is in his 70s and has lived most of his life in the UK. He had been in St Patrick’s industrial school at Upton in Cork for six years, where he was abused. He applied to the redress board on January 23rd, 2006.
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