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LAST UPDATE | 6 Mar
NEWLY APPOINTED SENATOR Alison Comyn has raised the abuse of disgraced surgeon and paedophile Michael Shine on the floor of the Seanad today, calling for a debate with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
Comyn, a Drogheda native, told the Seanad that as of today there are 363 known victims and survivors of Shine, a former surgeon at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
Last year, several of Shine’s victims went public for the first time in a series of interviews with The Journal. They are demanding a Commission of Investigation to probe claims that health and religious authorities in Ireland failed to stop the abuse.
Comyn noted today that this Government has not taken definitive action, despite commitments from then-Taoiseach Simon Harris ahead of last year’s general election.
“In the meantime, these men, some of whom I met last week, and hundreds more, continue to live with the trauma of their experiences, and many questions are unanswered,” the Fianna Fáil senator said.
“Victims and survivors are understandably skeptical, but they’re still very hopeful about whether they will ever get answers they need through an open and thorough Commission of Investigation.”
The senator said she feels a debate with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan would be a “critical step” at this point and that it would help rebuild trust and show commitment to meaningful action on a Commission of Investigation.
Comyn told the Seanad that victims she met with last week feel they have received “piecemeal justice”.
“They’ve lived through decades of lengthy civil cases, and they have seen him receive a criminal conviction of four years, of which he served three years.
“Despite reports of sexual abuse first made in the 1960s and 1970s, Dr Shine continued to practice, having access to young boys in the hospital, in his private practice and a local orphanage. His victims feel there has been no full and effective statutory investigation into who knew of the sexual abuse, when they knew, and how it was allowed to take place,” Comyn said.
One of the men campaigning for a Commission of Investigation reacted to this morning’s proceedings in the Seanad.
Drogheda born Ian Russell said: “It was hard hearing my name read out in public as part of that, but needs must.”
He said that he and other victims continue to deal with the long-term emotional impact of being sexually abused.
Ian recently attended Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital after he broke his leg and was hit by a wave of flashbacks when he arrived.
To this day he continues to experience post traumatic stress.
Ian Russell previously told The Journal:
“I always get post traumatic stress when I see his picture, because every time I see his picture he is literally a foot away from me…I’m there with him again.”
Russell said that he was sexually assaulted by the now disgraced doctor during a follow-up appointment in the outpatients unit at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital after having surgery in 1990.
He recalled how he felt immediately afterwards: “You know that it’s wrong, but you don’t really have the guts or gumption to highlight it or to challenge it or to say something.
“Even if you did say something, nobody would believe you, you would be slapped down because that was the culture at the time. The nuns still had the hospital.”
Last September, The Journal reported fresh claims that Shine abused children in an orphanage run by the Daughters of Charity nuns on Fair Street in Drogheda during the 1970s and 1980s.
When asked if the Daughters of Charity would participate in an inquiry should one be established a spokesperson for the organisation said:
“The Daughters of Charity does not have sufficient information in respect of this particular matter to allow it to provide any meaningful comment at this time in relation to any proposed Commission of Investigation.”
Shine was jailed for four years in 2019. He was released in 2022 after serving three years. He has lived in Dublin 4 since then.
With reporting from Saoirse McGarrigle
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