Head of the Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland resigns after investigation reveals ‘serious and significant failures’

“People were in danger,” explained Trevor Gribben, without detailing the violations found. The head of the Presbyterian Church was the church’s senior official during the period covered by the investigation.

The leader of Northern Ireland’s largest Protestant denomination has resigned. Trevor Gribben, leader of the Presbyterian Church since June, will step down at the end of November because “serious and important failure” in child protection was revealed by an internal investigation, Wednesday 12 November.

“It is now clear that there have been serious and significant failures in the primary protective function of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.”Trevor Gribben said in a statement, following an internal investigation into the operations of the Presbyterian Church between 2009 and 2022. “As a result, many people were put at risk. We are aware of a number of people who have suffered losses, and we believe there may be others we are not aware of. We apologize deeply for this.”he said, without providing details about the nature of the violations found.

“A number of situations have been identified between 2009 and 2021, including situations occurring in late 2022, where we failed to provide adequate protection services”David Bruce, a senior church official, told reporters in Belfast. Trevor Gribben was a senior church official during the period of the investigation.