VICTIMS OF PAEDOPHILE Michael Shine have taken their campaign for a public inquiry to the Dáil.
Cianan Murray, Ian Armstrong, Larry Torris and Gerard Murray met with the Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik and the party’s TD for Louth Ged Nash today.
The men claim that the disgraced doctor sexually abused hundreds of boys over decades and are calling for a Commission of Investigation to probe the alleged failure of various State institutions and religious organisations to stop the abuse.
After the hour-long meeting at Leinster House, Ivana Bacik and Ged Nash issued a joint statement stating that “the circumstances under which he was allowed to abuse boys and young men over many decades, with impunity, must be investigated”.
The statement continued: “It was important to hear directly from the men who met with us about their terrible experiences of abuse, perpetrated by one of Ireland’s most prolific abusers.
“It was also important to hear about the way in which the victims and survivors have had multiple experiences of being failed by different State institutions.
“These successive failures have meant that justice continues to be denied to the countless men who have suffered abuse perpetrated by Michael Shine.”
Labour confirmed that it would include the establishment of a Commission of Investigation in its general election manifesto, and has called on other parties to make a similar commitment.
Gerard Murray, 53, told The Journal that Shine’s victims are pushing themselves outside of their comfort zone in a bid to secure political support for their campaign.
Gerard was abused by Michael Shine when he was a four-year-old patient, and ten years later he was abused separately by a Christian Brother at secondary school.
He participated in the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Schools run by religious orders, the findings of which were published last week.
Gerard said that if a Commission of Investigation goes ahead in relation to abuse at schools, but there is no public inquiry into Michael Shine, he will feel “absolutely horrible”.
“I explained to [Bacik] why should one of my abuses warrant a Commission of Investigation and the other wouldn’t? That’s prioritising one abuse over the other,” he said.
“I would feel really guilty for the 350 men abused by Shine who did not get an inquiry.”
He added: “It is a daunting task speaking to the leader of a national party, trying to put your argument across that it warrants a Commission of Investigation, but she was well informed and knew about Shine and the Smyth Review. We made it clear that publishing the Smyth Report had to be a small part of a larger Commission of Investigation.”
‘Doesn’t change our position’
CEO of Dignity4Patients Adrienne Reilly also insisted that calls for the Smyth Report to be published “don’t change our position: we are still seeking a full Commission of Investigation”.
“Its publication cannot be in lieu of any inquiry. It is out of date. The Smyth Report is a 2009 Report…15 years ago,” she said.
“Smyth only looked at processes and procedures at the hospital. It did not look at the role of other bodies including the guards, the health board and religious institutions.
“This report in and of itself is not sufficient to address the widespread, systematic, abuse, it is part of the bigger picture.
“Just releasing this report without a full Commission of Investigation is putting a plaster over a bullet hole.”
Lawyer for the victims Diarmuid Brecknell said that today’s meeting was a good opportunity for the men to discuss the case with politicians.
“They were in listening mode, which is a good thing,” he said. “But the party’s actions are what matters.”
In November 2017, a jury found Shine guilty on three counts of assaulting two teenage patients on dates between 1974 and 1976.
However, he later was granted bail pending an appeal against the conviction.
Shine was eventually jailed for four years in 2019 following a separate case for abusing seven boys in his care over a period of three decades and was released in February 2022 after serving three years.