Closure for victims following death of Bill Kenneally
Bill Kenneally died in Midlands Prison on Thursday.
Paedophile Bill Kenneally has died.
Kenneally died in Midlands Prison, where he was transferred earlier this month to serve the remainder of his 18 year and 8 month prison sentence under medical supervision.
He had been in prison for over 10 years and was not due to be released until 2030.
His next of kin has been notified and the cause of his death will be determined by the Coroner's Office.
Kenneally had been very ill for some time and was under palliative care. He died, aged 75, at around 3.30am on Thursday, June 18.
Earlier this year he underwent surgery to have one of his legs amputated below the knee due to health complications arising from diabetes.
Bill Kenneally was a predatory sexual abuser operating in Waterford City and its environs. He had an intense sexual attraction to pubescent boys in early adolescence.
For decades, he used his position in local sports; soccer, tennis and basketball, to lure in countless victims. One victim told us he understands that over one hundred boys may have been abused by Kenneally.
In 2016, Kenneally was sentenced to 14 years and two months’ imprisonment for the indecent assault of 10 boys.
In 2023, he received an additional four years and six months for the indecent assault of five more boys, bringing his total sentence to 18 years and 8 months.
The offences, to which he pleaded guilty, ranged from 1979 to 1990, however, his offending goes as far back as 1970.
Kenneally was not brought to justice prior to a formal complaint by one of his victim’s, Jason Clancy, in December 2012.
Kenneally’s death brings closure, Jason Clancy said to this newspaper.
“For me, it’s come full circle,” he said.
“I’m not celebrating his death, but this is full closure.
“Others have said that they wish Kenneally got to serve his full sentence, and we all feel differently about it, but the general consensus for us is that it's closure and it's all coming to an end now.”
His death comes just days after the publication of a landmark report, which outlines how state bodies and individuals responded to the crimes committed by Bill Kenneally, a man who sexually abused boys in Waterford for decades.
The report found that there was a serious dereliction of duty from An Garda Siochana in how they responded to Kenneally’s crimes.
The response of politicians, the South Eastern Health Board, senior members of the church and schools was also sharply criticised.
“If he had passed two weeks ago, I would have been devastated that he didn’t get to see the findings of the report,” Mr Clancy said.
“The timing of it couldn’t have been better and I am very happy that he got to hear what was said about him and see the damage that was done before he died."
In the aftermath of the report, a group of survivors travelled to Dublin to meet Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to discuss the delivery of a State apology.
Mr Clancy said, “We had a strategy meeting with our solicitors before meeting the Minister so that we could properly set out exactly what we wanted from the meeting.
“We went into that meeting, the Minister spoke first, and he actually offered us everything we were going to ask of him.
“He gave us a Ministerial apology from the Department of Justice there and then and he said a State apology is also being worked on and will be provided. We will have an input into that before it’s released to make sure we are happy with it.
“He also confirmed that they will be creating new legislation with the Irish Law Reform Commission to make sure this can never happen again.”
Jason Clancy told us that also discussed during this meeting was the Fianna Fáil membership of Brendan Kenneally, the former TD who was Bill's cousin.
“They said they will review the membership of Brendan Kenneally in Fianna Fáil. They don’t know the status of his membership, but I asked them to review that, and they said they absolutely will," Mr. Clancy said.
It was later confirmed by Minister Mary Butler, Chief Whip of the Fianna Fáil party, that as of this week Brendan Kenneally is no longer a member of the party.
