SeÃ¡n Fortune

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Fr. Seán Fortune (died in March 1999) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and alleged child sexual abuser. Media reporting frequently characterised him as a paedophile, and of using his position to gain access to his victims.

Born in New Ross, County Wexford, Fortune was educated at St. Peter's College, Wexford, which was the diocesan seminary of the diocese of Ferns. It was during his training that the church authorities became aware that Fortune was engaged in abuse. This, however, did not impede his ordination.

Fortune ministered in the village of Poulfour in Co. Wexford, in Belfast and in Dundalk. Allegations of abuse were made against him in all three places. He also set up a business in Dublin which offered media and journalism training to the public.

In March 1999, he committed suicide in New Ross while awaiting trial for sixty-six charges of sexual abuse against twenty-nine boys. He had taken a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol and was found dead in bed by his housekeeper. He had been remanded in custody pending trial but had been released days earlier.

In March 2002, the BBC broadcast Suing the Pope, a documentary detailing the activities of Fortune and the response of the Diocese of Ferns to his activities over the years. As a result, Bishop Brendan Comiskey, Bishop of Ferns resigned due to his perceived mishandling of the case. He had described Fr. Fortune as being "virtually impossible to deal with."

The Report of the Ferns Inquiry claims that two of Fortune's victims have since committed suicide.

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