Madam, – I read with disgust “Dozens sympathise with sex offender” (Front page, December 17th). Where is the justice for victims of sexual abuse? Those who waited to support Danny Foley in the court are only making it harder for victims of sexual abuse to come forward and report crimes.
Statistics for convictions for sexual abuse and rape are low enough, but this behaviour will only serve to make them worse. If victims feel they have less support than the person that attacked and humiliated them, they are far less likely to bring their case to conviction.
I am so glad the victim in this case stood her ground and made sure her attacker was convicted, despite the lack of support she got from her community.
I hope she can now get on with her life now and I congratulate her for bringing Danny Foley to justice. I know that if a friend or close relative of mine was convicted of sexual assault, I would not be there to support them.
I hope the people who were there to wish Danny Foley well are ashamed of themselves. Victims need more support, criminals do not. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Following on the publication of the Murphy report, one would expect that all those in positions of responsibility in the church would recognise the need, indeed the obligation, to condemn sexual abuse and its cover-up whenever and wherever it might happen.
With this in mind, I was shocked into almost disbelief on reading the reports of the sentencing hearing of a sexual offender in the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee (Front page, December 17th).
Apart from the abhorrent behaviour of sympathisers of the defendant openly expressing their support for a convicted sex offender, I am almost at a loss of words at the statements made in court in support of this man by Castlegregory parish priest, Fr Seán Sheehy. In sworn testimony to the court, Fr Sheehy is reported as describing the defendant as “having the height of respect for women” and that there was “not an abusive bone in his body”.
That a parish priest could make such a statement, notwithstanding the evidence presented in the course of the trial and the conviction of the abuser, is simply mind-blowing and would suggest that there are still some senior churchmen who have blind spots when it comes to the issue of sexual abuse. In the light of the call for the resignations of various bishops, I would suggest that Fr Sheehy’s position as a priest in pastoral ministry must be seriously questioned.
It is necessary that those in authority in the church take all appropriate steps to uphold the church’s abhorrence of sexual abuse and demonstrate that the church will not tolerate such abuse or be a haven for those who would condone or excuse it. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was appalled to read of the 50 men who saw fit to show up to court in Tralee and demonstrate their support for a convicted sex offender, Danny Foley. Furthermore, the fact that a Catholic priest (Fr Seán Sheehy) felt it appropriate to provide the offender with a positive character statement speaks to a continued lack of humanity and hypocrisy of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The difficulties faced by victims of sexual assault in making the decision to report this crime and proceed with charges cannot be underestimated. Many survivors of abuse report that progressing through the criminal process is even more difficult than the attack itself.
Ireland continues to have one of the lowest rates of reporting for sex offences, which remains one of the principle challenges in raising awareness of this issue. Given the behaviour of these men, it is understandable that victims would hesitate in pressing charges.
I have read the many reports of historic child sex abuse perpetrated by the Catholic Church with horror and have been frustrated by the numerous official responses which state that these priests, the perpetrators of abuse, were “products of their time” and that such a thing could not happen in the Ireland of today. Clearly, we have not progressed as much as we would hope, as demonstrated by the heinous behaviour of these 50 men and Fr Sheehy.
The rights of all who experience sexual abuse, both men and women, should be unquestionably protected. That these men, in 2009, saw fit to show such a lack of regard for the human rights and dignity of a survivor of abuse appals me. They should collectively and individually be held to account – these men should be named and shamed. The attitude, be it implicit or explicit, that sexual assault is somehow “acceptable” cannot be tolerated any longer – we clearly have a long way left to travel before this is realised in every Irish town, village and city. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I read the details of what happened in the court in Tralee, and heard further radio reports, with shock and disbelief. Sometimes you get up in the morning and feel ashamed to be an Irishman. This was an egregious, disgraceful and shameful act of collective misogyny by an odious mob which took the side of the oppressor instead of his victim. Listowel should hang its head in shame, but in truth this could have been anywhere in Ireland.
I would like to salute the woman at the centre of this case – it must have taken enormous courage for her to maintain her case. It will be small consolation to her, but I hope she knows that many ordinary men as well as women will have been utterly disgusted by the show of support for a criminal who seems to have compounded his behaviour by an attitude of contempt and further disrespect towards her in court.
The most disgusting aspect of what happened yesterday, it seems to me, was the public expression of collective intolerance, combined with an attitude of double standards which seems to inform all matters concerning sexual morality in Ireland. I have to wonder what century we are living in.
Finally, will the Catholic Church ever get it? In a week when a bishop who did nothing to defend the weak against the attacks of predatory priests finally departed, presenting himself as a victim instead of someone complicit in the doing of evil, the parish priest of Castlegregory apparently saw nothing wrong in supporting a convicted rapist. He should step down: such patriarchal arrogance is no longer acceptable. – Yours, etc,