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Abuse Victims Still Waiting for Redress Decades Later, TDs Hear
🇮🇪 Ireland /Crime & Justice

Abuse Victims Still Waiting for Redress Decades Later, TDs Hear

From Irish Times · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • A legislator read into the record the testimonies of two women sexually abused decades ago by a former national school principal.
  • The women, now grandmothers, are among 19 who are suing the state for failing to provide redress for the abuse.
  • They argue their testimony was sufficient for criminal conviction but not for state compensation, highlighting a long wait for justice.

Decades after suffering abuse, two women are still waiting for redress from the state, their harrowing testimonies read aloud in the Dáil chamber by Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns. The women were sexually abused as children by Leo Hickey, the principal of Dunderrow National School in Kinsale. Their accounts, filled with repellent detail, cut through the formal language of "historical sexual abuse" and "scoping inquiries."

Taoiseach, I want to read into the record the testimonies of two women who were abused by the principal of Dunderrow National School in Kinsale.

— Holly CairnsIntroducing the testimonies of abuse survivors in the Dáil chamber.

One woman recalled a classroom experience where one of Hickey's hands abused her while the other simultaneously abused the girl next to her. Another remembered him pressing against her for what felt like an eternity, her only thought being to get out to play before recess ended.

I remember wanting to get out to play before the break was over.

— Unnamed abuse survivorRecounting a specific memory of the abuse.

These women are part of a group of 19 who are planning legal action against the state for its failure to pay them compensation. Hickey was eventually jailed for his crimes, and most of these women were key witnesses in his 1998 trial. Despite their crucial testimony in the criminal case, they argue their accounts are not being recognized by the state for redress purposes.

Their testimony was good enough for the criminal court, but somehow it isn’t good enough for the State. It’s unbelievable.

— Holly CairnsExpressing disbelief at the state's denial of redress despite the testimony's sufficiency for a criminal conviction.

Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty and Labour leader Ivana Bacik joined Cairns in urging the government to act. Doherty referenced Louise O'Keeffe, another victim of Hickey's, who had to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights for vindication. The court's judgment mandated compensation for O'Keeffe, yet, more than 12 years later, many other victims from the same school and period are still fighting the state for recognition and responsibility.

We are talking about women who, as children, were abused by the same person in the same school during the same period.

— Pearse DohertyHighlighting the shared experience of multiple victims from the same school and abuser.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Irish Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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