Pat Hehir was just nine years old when he suffered abuse at the hands of depraved priest Martin O’ Flaherty.
O’ Flaherty (73) of Rosmeen Gardens, Dun Laoghaire, has now been convicted of sexual offending against 29 boys. A member of the Christian Brothers, he was a teacher at the CBS primary school, Stephen Street, Kilkenny, between 1976 and 1981.
Reporting restrictions have been lifted as no further matters are pending against O’ Flaherty, so he can now be named. He has stood trial on five previous occasions since 2022 and has 103 previous convictions for the indecent assault of 22 boys.
Pat Hehir knows all too well that the court process, media coverage, and at long last — the naming of the abuser — will have stirred up difficult memories for many. He, along with fellow survivors, have endured many years of trials, interviews, and investigations, to finally see justice.
“We all have family and friends who have been impacted by this. People are in a state of agitation. I would certainly make an appeal to those who haven’t come forward — talk to somebody,” he says.
“Share and unburden yourself from what you have needlessly carried for decades. Whatever you are feeling — fear, anger, confusion — the only chance you have is by unburdening yourself. It’s not your shame to carry.”
However, he urges people to prepare themselves for how challenging it may be.
“If you are considering going through the criminal justice system, there are things you need to know,” he says. "I was called four times. Once, it was adjourned, but in three of them, I was on the stand. I wasn’t fully prepared for [what that entailed]. I knew there was a request to have my counselling notes disclosed to the Defence.I had concerns about how they would be utilised.”
The concerns were well founded: “They were used in a way to attack not just my character, but that of a family member as well,” he says.
Pat feels much of the questioning in that first trial were less about what had happened to him, and more about a family member whose similar experience had come up for discussion in his private counselling sessions. It was extremely distressing for him. “It was used to try and destroy me,” he says.
In another trial, an unrelated childhood trauma he suffered was brought up in cross-examination. It caught him off guard, and was an attempt, he feels, to get him on the back foot.
“I bring this up because if someone is in a position where they are thinking about going through what we’ve gone through, they should be aware. Counselling notes could be used in that manner. And there is fallout, because you have been retraumatised.”
Pat feels that there is a growing sense among people involved that the disclosure of counselling notes may be inappropriate.
"I believe the primary purpose of the trial is to ensure the accused gets a fair trial. That is not extended to the victim,” he says. “If counselling notes are disclosed, it should only be about matters pertaining to that trial.
“Current Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has acknowledged this and is giving the matter some thought.”
In the CBS, the abuse took the form of inappropriate touching, primarily after being called to O’Flaherty’s desk at the front of the classroom. O’ Flaherty was not the only offender.
In 2023, another Christian Brother, Liam Coughlan of Pine Grove, Tramore, Co Waterford, was convicted of abusing 19 schoolboys when he was a teacher in the same school almost 50 years ago. Two other teachers, now deceased, have also been the subject of abuse allegations.
After the first two trials, Pat prepared himself extensively for the third - in terms of pre-trial, during, and post-trial issues that arose.
“It is a strange experience. It is traumatising, but also liberating, and cathartic. There are some very intense feelings. But it is brutalising.
“I would be very concerned that others who are out there… there is an ignorance of what happens. I’d have friends that think that the trials were just about conveying our experience. But it’s the cross-examination and the emotions that brings up.
“I was questioned about what my intentions were. I told [the counsel for the accused] that I harbour no ill will or hatred towards his client.”
He says it was an opportunity to express what had happened to him in a way not afforded to everyone. It made him feel ten feet tall, which he notes, with irony, is similar to how his abuser may have felt when Pat was just a nine-year-old boy standing at the top of the classroom.
“People witnessed what he did to me. Kids were witnessing this, and even if not directly affected, were exposed in this manner.
He feels sentencing is lenient, with concurrent sentences often handed out rather than consecutive. O’Flaherty is currently serving an effective sentence of eight years, two months and three weeks, scheduled for release in August 2030, but could be as early as August 2028.
The special garda unit has now turned its attentions to other areas where offending priests were moved on to.
“God only knows what future investigations will reveal,” Pat says. “Because he acted with impunity in our school. Coughlan also went elsewhere and was made principal.”
Pat also says, while his experience with the specialist garda unit were ultimately positive, there still exists an attitude of disbelief among some.
“I went to the guards in 2016, and was told I wasn’t a victim,” he says. “I had a lot of difficulty with that at the time. I had to find the strength to keep going with it. One garda was quite hostile to me.
“But I want to acknowledge the role of the specialised protective unit. I saw firsthand the extraordinary efforts they put into this.”
In her ruling, Judge Sheahan said the victim impact statements demonstrated the effect and psychological damage on the men, who have carried the “terrible consequences” with them for decades.
“Having gone through the trials and the subsequent fallout, I’d still urge people to come forward. If I can do it, I think anyone can.
“Undoubtedly, there are people who will never come forward. And, no one can compel them to. But it’s hard to find peace when you are struggling with all these emotions. I know marriages, relationships that have broken down, addiction problems, needless experiences that have come from this.
“I don’t want to live in a society that is vengeful,” he says. “Some survivors do have these feelings. But equally, I don’t want to live in a society that is indifferent. And there is still an attitude there.”
In spite of it all, Pat is appealing to any victims of Brother Coughlan, O’Flaherty, or any others: Break the silence, speak to somebody.
“Would I recommend going through the criminal justice system? I would. It is a brutalising experience, but in the long term, you’ll have a chance of healing.
“My concern is the fellow survivors who are still out there,” he says.
“We have paved the way and made ‘a crossing’. The courts are a very turbulent experience, but we’ve got to the other side.
“We have the scars from it, but we got through. I can see others still on the other side, and I just want to reach them. If I can go through it, you can.”