Numbers coming forward with accusations of abuse at Blackrock College have been described as “frightening” by the former archbishop of Dublin.
Diarmuid Martin on Saturday described the members of the Spiritan order responsible as “horrendous abusers”.
He said he could not understand how so many “horrendous abusers were in one community at the same time”.
His comments came as Micheal Martin confirmed there would be an inquiry to examine the allegations of abuse at schools run by the religious order.
The Taoiseach said there would be a victim-led process after it emerged at least 233 men have alleged abuse against 77 priests from the Spiritans, formerly the Holy Ghost order.
And he said he could not rule out the possibility that the probe would be widened as allegations against the Jesuits have also been made.
Mr Martin said: “It is sickening and it is shocking what has happened in terms of the scale and nature of the abuse...
“Terrible trauma visited on so many people in their early lives when they needed protection, and when their parents were putting them into a place of care and protection.
“We have to identify the best way forward in a victim-led way... I think inevitably that means some form of inquiry will have to be established here.”
The abuse allegations date back to the 1970s and involve schools managed by the Holy Ghost order.
Diarmuid Martin said the inquiry should be “survivor-led” and that “victims have a right to know what decisions were taken about them”.
Speaking on RTE radio Dr Martin said the number of cases were “frightening” because they were all in the one institution “and a very prestigious institution”.
He told the Brendan O’Connor show: “Here were perpetrators who eat with one another, who lived with one another, who knew one another and yet I don’t know at any particular moment how many horrendous abusers lived together at any one time in that community.”
He added: “It’s hard to fathom. Some of these men were extraordinarily violent men...
“Some of these people should never have been teachers and certainly they should never have been allowed to be teachers in a boarding school.
“On reflection boarding school is obviously a place where you need double protection.”
On the restorative justice process, Dr Martin said it may work for some people but it’s “much more useful if the perpetrator is there”.
He said that “immediate alarm bells should have rung” if parents approached the school with complaints.
Dr Martin said he never left a meeting with a survivor without feeling shattered and angry.
“No matter how professionally successful survivors go on to be, they are people who are marked for their entire lives by what happened to them as children,” he said.
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