A leader of a group working for survivors of sex abuse, Mr Colm O'Gorman, has "no intention whatsoever" of standing for election to the Dáil.Mr O'Gorman, a director of the One in Four organisation, was responding to suggestions by Ms Christine Buckley of the Aislinn survivors' group.
She demanded "a right of reply" after The Irish Times reported Mr O'Gorman's address last Wednesday to a UN group on contemporary forms of slavery. He spoke about the economic exploitation of children in Irish institutions.
She said Mr O'Gorman had never been in such an institution, nor had he consulted her or organisations representing survivors. It was "exploitation" of survivors and she was "very hurt".
Mr O'Gorman said One in Four dealt directly with people who had been in the institutions as children, and his report was based on their experiences.
Ms Buckley also queried the support of a PR firm, Financial Dynamics, for One in Four, particularly as a former Fine Gael press officer, Mr Niall Ó Muilleoir, now worked there. No such group had ever offered services to Aislinn and, when in government, Fine Gael had shown no interest in them either, she said.
Responding, Mr Ó Muilleoir said the PR firm supported One in Four, mainly in dealings with the Government, before he became involved last September.
It did so as "Colm O'Gorman is one of the strongest and most coherent voices on this issue". He said there was "no squabbling" between political parties on the child sex-abuse issue. And, where the Government was concerned, he wished to give credit where it was due on the matter.
Mr O'Gorman said Financial Dynamics provided their services free, and he was grateful for their support.