THE DAUGHTER OF convicted paedophile Patrick O’Brien has spoken of her fear as her father’s release date draws closer.
Fiona Doyle suffered a decade of sexual abuse at the hands of her father throughout the 1970s and 80s. The abuse began the night before her First Holy Communion in 1973.
She said that the only way she will be able to “move on” is by attending his funeral.
Fiona recently learned that O’Brien will be released on the 24 October, serving half of a 12-year sentence.
The 80-year-old from Bray, Wicklow was found guilty of repeatedly raping his daughter Fiona Doyle between 1973 and 1982 in 2013.
Speaking this morning on Today with Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1, Fiona said how she visited her dad in hospital last year, where he held out his hand and said he was sorry.
“‘Dad, I need this to end,’ I said. And he said: ‘How will it end?’ I said: ‘It’ll end when you die.
“I need to see you go into the ground”, she told him, adding “you can tell the rest of the family members that I’m not going to be denied that”.
“That’s what I need to get over, to move on,” she said.
O’Brien is now 80-years-old and has suffered ill health in recent years. Fiona also told Sean that she knows that her dad has not received any counselling.
Fiona said she deals with the effects of her abuse every day and has been seeing a counsellor since 2010. “I have to be re-programmed,” she said.
She said she didn’t receive a sense of closure when her mother, Breda, died a number of years ago.
“That particular week was the week that I was to hear if she was to be charged. I never found out if they were going to charge her or not.”
Fiona’s full interview can be heard here.
The Rape Crisis Centre provides services to those affected by rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment or childhood sexual abuse. Its trained staff are at 1800 778 888.
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