Rapist Swim Coach George Gibney Appears to Have Overlapped at Ireland’s Newpark School With Controversial Vancouver Olympics Chief John Furlong

Olympic Hopeful Turned 50-Year Abuse Survivor — In an Exclusive Interview, Speed Skating’s 1960s Golden Girl, Vickie Swanson, Explains Why She Disappeared
November 5, 2015
Crying ‘Wolfe’: Football Hijacks a Social Victory
November 9, 2015
Olympic Hopeful Turned 50-Year Abuse Survivor — In an Exclusive Interview, Speed Skating’s 1960s Golden Girl, Vickie Swanson, Explains Why She Disappeared
November 5, 2015
Crying ‘Wolfe’: Football Hijacks a Social Victory
November 9, 2015


by Irvin Muchnick

 

 

George Gibney — the rapist former Irish national swim team coach whose 20 years of alien residency in the United States have come under renewed scrutiny — taught at the Newpark School in Dublin in the 1970s during the same period when fellow Irish native John Furlong, later president and CEO of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, was the school’s equivalent of athletic director.

The significance of this find is elevated by a 2012 article in The Georgia Straight, a Vancouver weekly newspaper, in which writer Laura Robinson exposed lies about his past by Furlong, one of Canada’s most celebrated public figures. See “John Furlong biography omits secret past in Burns Lake,” http://www.straight.com/news/john-furlong-biography-omits-secret-past-burns-lake.

Robinson’s story raised multiply sourced on-the-record allegations of physical and mental abuse of children by Furlong. The piece did not report instances of sexual abuse — though it did inspire several unsuccessful civil lawsuits by First Nations (Indian) people who claimed Furlong had so abused them. Furlong also filed a failed defamation lawsuit against Robinson.

We’ll get to some Furlong details below. For our purposes, what is most important about Furlong’s censored biography is where it connects with Gibney’s. At minimum, the connection may be a further illustration of how birds of an abusive feather flock together.

Gibney founded the Trojan Swimming Club at Newpark School in 1976. It is worth noting that it was while the Trojans were on an American training trip that Gibney raped a teenage swimmer in a Tampa hotel. Anti-abuse activists hope for Gibney’s extradition back to Ireland to face reopened criminal charges for this incident, as well as for some of the dozens of other counts for molestations documented, among other places, in the Murphy Commission report (authored by a Supreme Court judge).

Above all, they would like to see Gibney’s Florida victim, who has been largely incapacitated for a quarter of a century as a result of the sexual assault trauma, recover to the point where she is able to press her case with both American police and Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions.

Gibney was head coach of the Irish swimming team at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Part of the Gibney spin by Irish sports officials is that he was no longer national coach in 1991, at the time of the Florida rape. This point is painfully semantic, since 1991 was between Olympiads. In any case, Ireland is a small country, Trojans were one of only a few top-drawer programs there, and the distinction makes no difference with respect to either Gibney’s heinous crimes or his national prominence.

As for Furlong … The Laura Robinson article establishes without a doubt that Furlong lied about his past in his 2011 memoir Patriot Hearts. Furlong claimed to have arrived in Canada in 1974. The Georgia Straight piece shows that after graduating from secondary school in Ireland, Furlong arrived in Burns Lake, British Columbia, in 1969, at age 18, and with no formal training, became a physical education teacher at the missionary Immaculata Elementary School. The school was operated by the Oblate Frontier Apostles, a Catholic order.

The school’s mission was to save the souls of the community’s First Nations population. The Robinson article describes numerous allegations of Furlong brutally striking, berating, and demeaning his students. A clue as to the truth of these allegations can be inferred from Furlong’s apparent need to white-out that line from his curriculum vitae. The date of his touchdown on Canadian soil is no throwaway line; it is a central anecdote of the narrative — told in Patriot Hearts and repeated to great profit on the lecture circuit — of how the goal of his repatriation to Canada was to “make us better.”

I have learned that Furlong, during his time back in Ireland in the early 1970s, in between Burns Lake and his circa 1974 emigration to Canada, had a sports administration role with the Newpark Comprehensive School in Blackrock, County Dublin. Newpark is operated by the Church of England. The Newpark Sports Centre was built in 1973, and that is likely at least one of the years Furlong was there, but I have not yet been able to pin down his dates. And to other journalists, Furlong has been as dodgy about his Newpark experience as he is about Burns Lake.

As noted, Gibney started the Trojans at Newpark in 1976. Prior to that, according to Irish journalist Justine McCarthy of London’s Sunday Times, Gibney was a part-time metalworks teacher at the school. It is possible that Gibney and Furlong were Newpark colleagues in 1973-74. It is even possible that Gibney succeeded Furlong as athletic director or sports manager, but the timeline is not yet chronicled. We’ll be reporting further on possible common Gibney-Furlong experiences.

Meanwhile, my attorney Roy S. Gordet and I continue to be pleased with the progress of my Freedom of Information Act litigation for fuller release of documents from Gibney’s 100-plus-page American immigration file. Our new brief, in opposition to the government’s motion for summary judgment, will be filed shortly with Judge Charles R. Breyer of U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

 

GEORGE GIBNEY SERIES TO DATE

Why Is George Gibney – No. 1 At-Large Pedophile in Global Sports – Living in Florida? And Who Sponsored His Green Card?

Published January 27th, 2015

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Offers Confused Initial Response to FOIA Request For Rapist Irish Coach George Gibney’s Visa and Green Card Files

Published February 18th, 2015

Senator Feinstein Leads Congressional Group Assisting Concussion Inc. in FOIA Request For Former Irish Coach George Gibney’s U.S. Immigration Records

Published February 19th, 2015

How Former USA Swimming President Dale Neuburger Responded To an American Court To Questions About Rapist Irish Coach George Gibney – Now Living in Florida With a Green Card

Published February 22nd, 2015

Rapist Irish National Coach George Gibney in Colorado in 2000 – Coached For USA Swimming Club, Claimed To Be on Board of At-Risk Youth Center, Traveled to Peru With a Priest

Published February 23rd, 2015

Colorado Police Confirm Basics of Concussion Inc.’s George Gibney Reporting; Questions Persist on USA Swimming’s Cover-Up Role

Published February 24th, 2015

Archdiocese of Denver ‘No Comments’ Irish Coach George Gibney – Plus Other New Notes on USA Swimming’s Cover-Up

Published February 24th, 2015

George Gibney’s USA Swimming Club in Denver Claims ‘No First-Hand Knowledge’ of His Dismissal and Notice to Others in 2000

Published February 25th, 2015

More Info on George Gibney at the USA Swimming Club in Denver, As Public Records Requests Escalate

Published February 25th, 2015

What’s Ahead in the George Gibney / USA Swimming Investigation

Published February 26th, 2015

BREAKING: Arvada (Colorado) Police Say George Gibney Left North Jeffco Swim Team As Early As 1995, Following Sexual Harassment Incident And Exposure of His Irish Past

Published February 27th, 2015

“Alleged abuser Gibney’s green card queried” – Sunday Times of London, Irish Edition

Published March 1st, 2015

George Gibney Swimming Abuse Cover-Up Featured Tonight on Irish TV

Published March 2nd, 2015

Here’s the 2000 Wheat Ridge (Colorado) Police Report on Rapist Irish National Team and USA Swimming Coach George Gibney

Published March 3rd, 2015

Member of Irish Parliament Calls on Government to Seek George Gibney’s Extradition From the U.S.

Published March 3rd, 2015

Tuesday Night Notes on the Exploding George Gibney / USA Swimming Story on Two Continents

Published March 3rd, 2015

See It Now – Irish Legislator O’Sullivan, Journalist McCarthy, Whistleblower Parent Discuss the Quest For George Gibney Justice on TV3’s ‘Tonight With Vincent Browne’

Published March 4th, 2015

Wheat Ridge (Colorado) Police: We Destroyed 1998 Report on George Gibney

Published March 4th, 2015

Status of Our Freedom of Information Act Request For George Gibney’s Immigration Files – Now Being Closely Watched in Both Ireland and U.S.

Published March 4th, 2015

Link to Irish Times Story on Irish Parliament’s Maureen O’Sullivan’s Appeal For Extradition of George Gibney

Published March 4th, 2015

What Complicates American Prosecution of Irish National Team and USA Swimming Coach George Gibney For His 1991 Rape on American Soil

Published March 5th, 2015

Irish Times: Minister of Justice to Discuss Legislator’s Appeal For Extradition of George Gibney

Published March 5th, 2015

Reprint of Sunday Times Article on Muchnick’s Freedom of Information Request For Rapist Irish and USA Swimming Coach George Gibney’s American Immigration Records

Published March 6th, 2015

Roundup of New Media Coverage of Irish National Team and USA Swimming Rapist Coach George Gibney

Published March 6th, 2015

Irish Legislator: George Gibney Prosecution Follow-Up Being Pursued in Both Ireland and U.S.

Published March 10th, 2015

“Disgraced coach Gibney investigated in America” – Sunday Times of London

Published March 15th, 2015

Irish Legislator Seeks Assistance on George Gibney From Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congresswoman Jackie Speier

Published March 16th, 2015

Reprint of Sunday Times Article on ConcussionInc.’s Reports of Investigations of George Gibney by Colorado Police

Published March 16th, 2015

Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman May Ask to Inspect 1995 Arvada Police Report of Sexual Assault Complaint Against Ireland and USA Swimming’s George Gibney

Published March 18th, 2015

U.S. Immigration Agency Official: ‘Final Review’ For Release of George Gibney Files Is Under Way

Published March 19th, 2015

Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman Decides (Reasonably) Not to Intervene in Arvada Public Record Matter – All Eyes on Our Fed FOIA Request for George Gibney’s Immigration Files

Published March 23rd, 2015

Irish Times: ‘Detective Appointed to Look Into George Gibney Case’

Published March 28th, 2015

Rapist Irish National Swim Team Coach George Gibney’s American Odyssey Begins – And May End – In Florida

Published April 12th, 2015

U.S. Government Asserts Blanket Privacy Redactions of Rapist Irish National Swim Team Coach George Gibney’s Immigration Files – FOIA Appeal Is Likely

Published May 5th, 2015

Muchnick Appeals Government’s Rejection of George Gibney Immigration Records FOIA

Published May 21st, 2015

Federal Court Appeal Next After Government Denies Internal Appeal For Release of Rapist Irish National Swim Team Coach George Gibney’s American Immigration Records

Published June 12th, 2015

Courthouse News Service Reports Our Federal Court Appeal For Rapist Former Irish National Swim Team Coach George Gibney’s U.S. Immigration Records

Published July 7th, 2015

U.S. District Court Senior Judge Charles Breyer to Preside Over Gibney FOIA Case

Published July 14th, 2015

Court Pleading in Gibney FOIA Appeal

Published July 15th, 2015

Irish Independent Covers Our George Gibney FOIA Lawsuit

Published July 18th, 2015

Update on George Gibney Criminal Investigation in Ireland

Published July 21st, 2015

Irish Legislator to Representative Speier and More Than 100 Women in U.S. Congress: Help Us Get Justice in the Matter of Swim Coach George Gibney

Published July 28th, 2015

IrishCentral: ‘How did an indicted Irish pedophile manage to get a US green card?’

Published July 30th, 2015

‘US lawmakers urged to release Gibney ‘s files’ – Sunday Times of London

Published August 2nd, 2015

Comments are closed.

Concussion Inc. - Author Irvin Muchnick