Laois is set to feature in a rescheduled RTE Investigates episode that is set to air on Thursday this week.
RTÉ Investigates: Christian Brothers, The Assets, The Abusers will be shown on May 1, at 9.35pm on RTÉ One.
The episode was originally set to air last week but was postponed due to the passing of Pope Francis.
RTÉ says that the Christian Brothers order is extremely wealthy and its trustees hold on to a vast property portfolio and a massive stake in the present and future of Irish education.
RTÉ Investigates reporter Rita O’Reilly will examine what the Christian Brothers order owns, how it handled property and school lands, and how convicted abusers previously helped manage its assets.
The documentary is being shown off the back of the Scoping Inquiry which was published last September and recommended redress for victims.
The report into sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders identified 308 schools where the alleged abuse took place.
It showed that between between 1927 and 2013, allegations of sexual abuse were made at six such Laois schools.
In regards to Laois, the report showed at least ten individuals alleged that they had been abused by at least six different abusers while attending schools under the patronage of religious orders in Laois.
Three of the Laois schools named in the report were run by the Christian Brothers.
The Christian Brothers Primary School and the Christian Brothers Secondary in Portlaoise as well as the Christian Brothers Portarlington CBS Primary School were mentioned.
As victims across Ireland prepare to seek justice for abuse suffered in schools, this RTE documentary will show victims as they prepare to seek justice for abuse suffered in schools and how abusers manage their assets.
The episode will also examine land owned by the order such as the site of the old Portlaoise CBS residence behind the Tower Hill school.
Robin Mandal, former President of the Royal Institute of Architects said: “I’m surprised at the number of properties. It really is a huge land bank. They are very, very valuable lands.”
Fergus Finlay, Chair of the Christine Buckley Foundation, which provides support services for survivors of institutional abuse in Ireland told RTÉ Investigates: “The public should own these assets, every single one of them.
“They were given to an order that had taken a vow of poverty, and they were given for the purposes of education.”
RTÉ Investigates: Christian Brothers, The Assets, The Abusers is on this Thursday, May 1, at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
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