A MAN who claims he was the victim of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has vowed he will not be silenced.
Jim Beresford, 56, of Raw Nook Road, Salendine Nook, says he was physically and sexually abused as a teenager while attending an industrial school near Dublin in the early 1960s.
Now solicitor Jonathan Dixon, of Clarksons Solicitors in Halifax, is urging victims of abuse to come forward and tell their stories to a commission set up by the Irish Government to award compensation. One victim has already received £50,000.
But Mr Beresford, a former teacher, has accused the Government of trying to silence people by bribing them.
He said: "I don't care how much money I am offered, I am more interested in getting the truth out in the open.
"If you make a claim to the commission, everything you say stays in that room and is bound by an agreement stopping things being discussed further.
"That is fine for some people because many feel ashamed about what happened to them, but I want to fight for the truth to be properly told."
When Mr Beresford's English parents were going through a difficult patch he and his brother were sent to Artane Industrial School, which was run by the Christian Brothers order.
He was told he would be at Artane for two weeks, but despite his mother's desperate attempts to get her children back both he and brother, Tom, who died in June, spent more than two years there.
Mr Beresford has logged his complaint with the High Court. He is claiming damages against the Christian Brothers, the Attorney General, The State of Ireland, the Irish Department of Education and Irish Department of Justice. His solicitors have been building his case since 1999.
Mr Dixon wants people to come forward as soon as possible if they want to mount a claim. The closing date is December, 2005.
He has already made one successful claim winning £50,000, and is being employed to represent five other people.
