'It's abhorrent': Ex-Fianna Fáil TD criticised for attending mayor election

FIANNA FÁIL HAS been criticised after one of its former TDs – who has been distanced from the party after he “didn’t do enough” about a disclosure that his cousin had sexually abused children – appeared at an event to celebrate one of the party’s councillors being elected as mayor.

Brendan Kenneally’s appearance at the vote last Friday in Waterford’s City Hall was blasted as “abhorrent” by a survivor of his relative Bill Kenneally’s crimes.

Multiple councillors on Waterford City and County Council who spoke to The Journal said they were taken aback to see the former TD appear at the event.

Photos from the event show the former TD posing for pictures standing beside family and supporters of the new mayor. There is no indication that other attendees knew that he was going to attend, or that they were aware of any issues around his attendance.

The councillors said that they were particularly surprised as the local Fianna Fáil TD for the area had cut ties with Brendan Kenneally in recent years.

“It’s wrong that he’s in there supporting Fianna Fáil and it tells me that no matter what you do in Fianna Fáil, there will always be a place for you,” Jason Clancy said.

The Fianna Fáil press office did not respond to a question about whether Kenneally was still a member of the party and did not respond when asked about Clancy’s criticism.

Brendan Kenneally pictured standing beside other attendees shortly after last week's election.

Survivors have long criticised the approach by Brendan Kenneally after a constituent told him that his cousin Bill, a former sports coach and Fianna Fáil tallyman, had sexually abused two boys in 2001.

They believe Bill Kenneally could have been arrested and charged at a far earlier stage than his eventual imprisonment in 2016.

A State inquiry set up to investigate how authorities responded to allegations about Bill Kenneally heard he was part of a “powerhouse” family in Waterford city which had seen various family members hold Dáil seats from the 1950s through to the 2010s.

Whilst Brendan Kenneally told the inquiry that he had been informed in 2001 of allegations of abuse, he denied being aware of his cousin’s abuse of children in the 1980s.

Brendan Kenneally – the last of the family to hold a political seat – served as a TD and junior minister for Fianna Fáil throughout the 1990s and the 2000s. He lost his Dáil seat in 2011.

Attempts were made to contact Brendan Kenneally, including a request to Waterford City and County Council, to allow him to respond to the concerns about his attendance. The council had invited Kenneally to the mayoral election.

Last year, the retired politician told a State inquiry that he may have been “wrong” not to inform gardaí about child abuse allegations made against his cousin.

Friday’s vote saw Fianna Fáil claim the position of Mayor of Waterford with its councillor Jason Murphy.

It’s the first time that a Fianna Fáil councillor from the city took on the top council job in almost a decade. It’s understood a number of former Fianna Fáil mayors attended the ceremony as well as Brendan Kenneally, who served as mayor of Waterford in the 1980s.

Jason Clancy, who was part of a group of ten victims who came forward for the successful prosecution of Bill Kenneally in 2016, pointed to statements given to the inquiry by the former TD.

“Given the information that has come out of the inquiry, I think it’s abhorrent that he is still involved and that he can be in there,” Clancy said.

When contacted, Murphy said he “wouldn’t have any comment to make” about Clancy’s criticisms. He said it was typical for people who served as mayor to receive an “automatic” invite from the council’s corporate office.

“I wouldn’t have anything to do with invites. I couldn’t ask anyone to leave,” he said.

Waterford City and County Council confirmed it is responsible for invites to council events. It declined to respond to Clancy’s criticism.

Bill Kenneally pictured earlier this year on his way into the inquiry.

Murphy added that he had submitted a “list of 30 names of family and friends” to the council ahead of his election and said Kenneally was not part of that list.

“I do appreciate where Jason [Clancy] is coming from but that’s not a Fianna Fáil event and Fianna Fáil have nothing to do with invitations. I wouldn’t be aware who is invited,” he added.

Murphy said he was unsure whether he had spoken to Brendan Kenneally during Friday’s ceremony: “I would have been mingling with everyone, it was quite an emotional day for me. I can’t remember everyone I spoke to at it.”

Murphy said he “totally recognises” that Kenneally’s presence may have caused hurt for victims of his family member’s crimes but said it was the council’s responsibility on whether he should be invited to further events.

He said he did not believe that Brendan Kenneally had campaigned for the party since the 2020 general election. During that election, the party came in for strong criticism when Brendan Kenneally canvassed the home of one of his cousin’s victims.

Following this, Fianna Fáil TD Mary Butler said she would cut ties with Kenneally and he would not be a part of any future campaigns.

She also left her constituency office which she rented from the former TD, explaining that she “hadn’t foreseen the enormity of the hurt and anxiety” caused by the arrangement.

Inquiry evidence

When giving evidence last September, Brendan Kenneally outlined that he was told in 2001 by a woman that her partner had been “stripped” and “tied to a tree” by his cousin when the victims were youths, with a polaroid photograph also taken of the boy so that it could be “immediately developed” and shown to the victim.

Brendan Kenneally told the inquiry that he was “told explicitly not to go near the guards” by the woman. He said her priority in telling him was to ensure that no other children were in danger, but accepted that “in hindsight” he “probably didn’t do enough” with the information.

He further denied being aware of his cousin’s abuse of children in the 1980s.

The inquiry also heard evidence from one victim, who recalled attending a basketball tournament with Bill and Brendan Kenneally in the 40 years ago.

The victim alleged that Brendan Kenneally had knowingly placed him in the same bedroom as Bill during an overnight stay and further alleged he mocked him after he was “brutally molested” by the paedophile.

This victim secured a conviction in the Central Criminal Court last year against Bill Kenneally for sexual abuse.

At the inquiry, Brendan Kenneally strongly denied the allegation.

The inquiry is expected to return its final report into the controversy later this year.

In May last year, Bill Kenneally received a four-and-a-half-year sentence for abusing five boys on unknown dates between December 1979 and March 1990.

The 72-year-old accountant, from Laragh, Summerville Avenue, Waterford, had already been serving a 14-year sentence for abusing ten boys from 1984 to 1987.

Fianna Fáil did not respond when contacted about Jason Clancy’s criticisms.