Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
HEALTH MINISTER STEPHEN Donnelly has said victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by Michael Shine “will not be found wanting” in terms of any healthcare supports they need, but stated the decision to hold a public inquiry is matter for the Minister for Justice, Taoiseach and party leaders.
The health minister also raised the question if the decision to not publish a 2009/2010 report into the abuse should be revisited.
A group calling for a public inquiry into the sexual abuse carried out by Shine, who is considered one of Ireland’s most prolific paedophiles, broke their silence for the first time yesterday in a series of exclusive, in-depth interviews with The Journal.
Hundreds of men claim that they were abused by the former surgeon, now 93, over decades, but in 2024, he is a free man after serving just three years in prison.
A leading human rights law firm has now announced that it is acting for the group seeking a Commission of Investigation to probe claims that health and religious authorities failed to stop the abuse.
Many of Shine’s victims were treated by him at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth, where he began working as a senior registrar in 1964 and was quickly promoted to consultant in 1968, staying at the hospital until 1995.
To date, more than 200 victims have settled civil claims against the Medical Missionaries of Mary. Many of the men were instructed to sign non-disclosure agreements, which meant that they could not talk to or support one another as they tried to recover from the trauma.
Shine was found guilty of assaults against nine boys at two trials, in 2017 and 2019, but campaigners believe there are many more survivors.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said yesterday that government will discuss calls for a public inquiry and commended the victims for speaking “with courage and in a vivid manner”.
“I want to thank them for that,” said Harris.
Speaking to The Journal, the health minister said his department’s focus is on supporting the survivors and supporting the patient advocacy group by working with them on healthcare needs for survivors.
“Any calls around a statutory inquiry is a matter for Justice [department]. I’ll leave any considerations of that to Helen McEntee and the Taoiseach and party leaders. It’s not a healthcare issue,” he said.
One report, carried out in 2009 by a High Court judge, sits unpublished due to a legal technicality over who actually owns the report. There was controversy at the time over the matter, with the then-health minister Mary Harney telling the Dáil that the judge had recommended that it should not be made public due to possible criminal proceedings that were ongoing at the time.
Donnelly referenced the report, stating:
“I am aware that there was a report done in 2009/10 and given to Mary Harney and the recommendation was not to proceed with further investigation, and I believe that was partly to not undermine some of the cases that were being taken by some of the survivors.
So you know, whether or not it’s time to review that, I think it’s a matter for party leaders, and a matter for Helen McEntee.
“But I want to make sure is that we keep working with the patient group to make sure that they get the supports they need. Because what happened was horrific.”
Donnelly added that what happened to the victims was “wrong”, stating:
We need to support them. From a healthcare perspective, if there are any additional healthcare needs that any of their members need, we will not be found wanting.
In terms of any steps towards an inquiry, the minister said he has “no doubt” government will reflect on the matter.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
They need to have one decent station and one decent radio station. Drop the “stars” on six figure sums and stop thinking they can continue to go around in the style they’ve been accustomed to because their mini army of TV-SS men go around the country threatening the working people with jail unless they pay for this “service”. Which, I might add, a good chunk of people no longer use despite Pet Rabbit’s protestations to the contrary.
Surprised that the advertising revenues from Fade Street didn’t rake it in.
Hey don’t knock Fade Street. That’s exactly the kind of programme you need when a recession kicks in! A bunch of spoilt talentless rich kids sitting about eating lunch and gossiping. Top stuff from RTE
What about the product placement in Fair City? They must be raking it in with all their alcohol sponsorship. But then again RTE aired a series whinging about alcohol sponsorship in sports. I just don’t know what to believe any more.
Also they save on Fair City by hiring people who clearly aren’t actors.
The farce that is RTE. Time they slashed staff, wages, and were told either ads or licence fee. It is beyond time that this was done.
RTE progamming policy.
1. Wait and see what the British do.
2. Make an inferior copy.
3. Go back to step 1.
Can we have our money back, please?
Natural selection needs to come into play again here. Crap station, crap presenters, crap people running it. I know there is the new guy they got in from UK but, it’s time this station was sent to a farm down the country. Ya feel me?
No need to worry RTE. You will be out of the red now that Kenny is gone ;-)
Sure the plank done his 40 years. I bet he’s taking a full pension from the 2th of September. Sure it was a smart move why stay working for the state when he’d be paying dead money to a pension fund. The thiefin git!
The program quality is atrocious, but the public are still expected to pay an extortionate licence fee. I discovered that I knew the script off by heart,while Watching reeling in the years last night. Talk about overkill.
Kenny was a contractor so no pension.
And even with the reduction of 270 staff it still proves that RTE is a waste of money. A terrible station.
The 270 people they cut would have been people on modest wages that were in no position to lose their jobs. The big guns are above all of this restructuring. How nice it must be to be isolated from real world economics because of some outrageous tax on every citizen regardless of whether they use your service or not. If they made RTE products a PPV option on Sky/UPC for €160 a year I don’t think they’d get very many subscribers.
There’s no such thing as modest wages in RTE. I know an electrician still earning a 6 figure salary, despite all the cuts.
Nonsense. The vast majority of people in RTE don’t earn 6 figure salaries and are below 50,000 euro. It’s easy to check as RTE salaries are a matter of public record. It’s only when the media publish ‘averaged’ figures of total salaries of all workers, including all high earning management and celebrities, that deceptively pushes up the average worker’s salary when the truth is most people earn the average wage or just above.
I understood from ads running some months ago that RTE were pumping a couple of hundred million into the local economy, oh wait that was into the poskets of their fabulous ‘celebrities’ who are worth their weight in gold apparently, apart from the fact they’re endlessly interesting to listen to, talking about their jawdropping lives. I could watch Brendan O’Connor until my eyes bleed or my feet rot into the carpet, which ever comes first. I love their sense of self worth, so massive. How does Pat Kenny manage to drive a car at all, with a head as profound as his…telling his own truth, as he is told. Roll over and die RTE.
There is no need for RTE anymore. It’s time to ditch the Dervlas and Daithis. The organisation is still operating like Dept of Information matched with an appalingly corrupt foot soldiery. The stories I could (will) tell. Hello exxxx. Your la is tioching
Ah come on folks, I think we just should increase the TV license fee to keep paying the high wages for the likes of Miriam O’Callaghan and Ryan Tubridy, these presenters really so deserve it …
40% of shows on rte are repeats.
I think I’ve seen that comment before.
RTE should be down sized or else shutdown with its tv licence it is a millstone around the neck of the improvised Irish peasant.
Why do we have to pay a licence or labours broadcasting charge when RTE performing groups paid for out of lotto and the technology is available for all or part of out put to be pay per view
RTE is poison…time to go now.
It obviously cost a fortune in spin to keep this government in power.
It’s either RTE or Denis O’Brien owning all the alternative media in Ireland. Take your pick.
Really dislike “fatboy in lead shoes” Denis , but I’ll go for him.
I don’t think they should shut down RTE what else is left ? TV3 is woeful’. We need a good quality independent national network. No ads, dump one of the channels and focus of factual programs. Ditch the soaps and the ‘do up your gaff’ rubbish.
Rte is an expensive folly
“Expensive Folly” with Hector the maggot , great name for a property renovation programme,
shut it down and save us all…….
Close it down.
The Greeks did their ‘RTE’ in with style. Just pull the plug.
Can’t remember if it was Saturday or Sunday evening of last week and they were showing ‘Daddy daycare’ as their big movie???has to have been repeated a million times, if its not that shit€ it’s ‘Jumanji’, repeat after repeat, Neville’s doorstep challenge is on AGAIN! …. Not to mention others
“And now on teilifis eireann for the first time on terrestrial televvision by a state sponsored, public subsidy supported, advertising market monopoly broadcaster beginning with R the July 2013 premier of Daddy fxxxking Daycare.”
How much do they spend on buying in overseas junk that fills most of the airtime? And repeat films that were on BBC or UTV the day before.
Dump 2FM, or let it survive on commercial revenue. Same goes for TG4 and RTE2. And all the digital radio stations no one listens to.
Start TV programming at 2pm or even later.
Agree, RTE are spending licence money on programming that be got for free through a Freeview Sattellie. A public service broadcaster should have a remit to produce only home grown material. They they could of put it on the freesat service and we wouldn’t have needed SAORVIEW.
RTÉ lost 270 staff in 2012 with no appreciable dip in its characteristically low quality. Kinda begs the question what those people were doing in Montrose in the first place.
Because of the loss of staff, the ones that remain work harder, and for less money than they earned before. Ask anyone who works there.
Don’t just automatically undermine people’s work and presume you know everything. I’ve worked in RTE and know several people who continue to work there and my experience has been of people working their ass off under increasingly difficult conditions.
No doubt a few people there work hard but there is a tremendous, jaw dropping level of obfuscation and sh1t kicking goes on there. This mostly involves avoiding any real responsibility and blaming op’s. Put the fooker out of it’d misery now.
Sure, just increase the license fee. What we do without Fair City?!?!
They get advertising revenue and state funding , and they manage to be making a loss, cmon they’re having a laugh. Privatise that ball of shit and get some real TV going there.
With Pat Kenny now gone they should break even next year
Someone saying on here recently that channel 4 operates with just 180 staff members! Quality of programming there is infinitely better….
There’s no way that could be true
http://m.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1139018/channel-4-pays-36-people-david-cameron
760 in total across all of their stations… Still a hell of a lot less than RTE
Talk to Joe.
Love it when you hear RTE top brass echo thier top earners “we have to pay these wages so these talents stay with RTE and don’t go to the BBC or ITV. Because in reality the BBC or ITV would have picked them up years ago if they were that good. Cases in piont Terry Wogan, Graham Norton,Dara O Brine to name but three.
Reeling in the years was farmed out again this week ?? How many re runs is that ?? 50 ?
Surely it must be time for Reeling In The Years to be on Reeling In The Years?
I can’t wait for the edition that reports on the closure of RTE in 201X,
R.T.E. = Really Terrible ‘Entertainment’
Some fantastic shows they’ve created through the years. Celebrity farm, winning streak, fair city, dont feed the gondolas, the bliZzard of odd, not to mention hipster loving Love/Hate. Worth every penny.
You’ll miss it when it’s gone.
The only good thing Rte ever did was love/hate the rest is pure sh1te,total waste of money,make it independent of the state,or pull the plug
RTE don’t make Love/Hate they buy it from a production company
Paid for by RTE/license fee.
That’s crap Gavin.
RTE have made loads of quality shows and they’d make much more if the likes of you payed your tv license.
Take Fair City for example. People like to put down the show without ever giving it a chance. The script writing and the subtlety of the character interaction is superb. Just take the complex character of Bob Charles.
Sublime. Only the wire is more entertaining.
@good news caravan,how dare you throw around accusations like that me, id like to know what makes you say i dont pay my licence fee,you igonrant tw@t
Fair City , Camcorders in the Car Park would be a better title
Don’t forget The Rose Of Tralee, on air the end of this month, Oh the excitment!
* excitement
Thought you were going to say “excrement” there, Geraldine !!
@gavin
Haven’t denied it though pal?? Says a lot.
I know your type.
Probably a more appropriate word to use alright mary
don’t worry you have Pat Rabbit in on it to rescue ye with his brooooadcasting charge loike. muppets
I blame Christy Moore for inviting them to Lisdoonvarna…that’s when the rot set in….
“RTE are makin’ tapes, takin’ breaks and throwin’ shapes.”
Get one person to read out the news ,the weather ans sport and no outside broadcasters . Charles Mitchell Model .See how much that would save
The departure of Pat’s wage bill will see them return to profit soon enough
Delighted…… Bunch of jumped up pr__ks the most if them, they must have a presenter for everything goin ……. even to present the opening of a shoebox
I think RTE should develop their own sports channel, so that they could show more Galway race days and live coverage of RDS next week. More GAA action too
Rodrigo. That’s ridiculous. I’m an electrician in RTE and believe me we are NOT on 6 figure sums or anything like it. And believe me we have taken our fair share of wage cuts etc in recent years.
People think that because you work in RTE that you are overpaid, underworked and immune from what’s going in “the real world outside”. But again believe me we are struggling like everyone else. Sure there are some big hitters in the wages department, but that’s the same in all walks of life in all sectors.
lads, if every house in the country didnt switch on rte for a day at least, it would send a message.
It must be from the loss of ad revenue on Aertel
Gavin Cooke, you wouldn’t know sarcasm if it punched you in the mouth, which it probably should
Big words Ronan,all the keyboard warriors are out today
@Mark Owens; this is a joke
have your say