Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I attended one of my first political gatherings as a young 13 year old child. It was a peace rally in the wake of the Warrington bombing. My mother and father packed the buggies and prams into the car as there were quite a few of us and we stood proudly with our candles in Ballybricken in Waterford calling for peace in our country in the wake of so many young lives being needlessly lost.

I voted for the first time in 1998 in my school uniform. I was 18 years of age, a similar age to Maíria Cahill at the time. I voted “Yes” for the agreement, acknowledging the huge work that had been done on both sides to come to the historic agreement we now call the Good Friday Agreement. Now I am aged 34, a similar age to Maíria Cahill, whom I have met, and she has shared with me a story of how she was sexually abused and raped by a family member. That, unfortunately, is not uncommon in Ireland. The SAVI report issued in 2002 shows that an alarming 74% of people in Ireland who experienced sexual abuse and rape were the victims of a family member. There is an onus on each one of us as citizens, both in the Dáil and outside it, to make sure that we protect our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.

It is alarming to me that Sinn Féin politicians who are skilled at and capable of exploiting people’s genuine fears for their political gain are portraying moral and righteous outrage as crusaders for social justice. I know of no greater injustice than to sexually abuse or violate a young child, a boundary which is crossed by an adult and that leaves a lifetime of effect and damage.

With the indulgence of the House I call on people listening to the debate who are upset and need help to reach out for it. I will read out the number of the Rape Crisis Centre. It is 1800 77 88 88. As elected representatives in this House, we have every obligation to make sure that we make known any information we have or that we might be able to persuade people to bring forward. Deputy Adams and members of his party have asked time and again for people to come forward with information. The information is very slow to come forward. Little did I know as a young girl at the time when I supported the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, similar to Maíria Cahill, that in the year 2000 the IRA was giving two fingers to the Good Friday Agreement. It was still operating its own kangaroo courts and bringing Maíria to face her abuser. Sinn Féin has acknowledged that people had no skills or qualifications. One could then ask what was the point of the exercise. Was it to silence her or frighten her into submission? I believe Maíria Cahill 100%, not 80%, half of her story or a quarter of it. There will be more. It is incumbent upon those in the leadership of the republican movement not to ask nonchalantly for information to come forward. They need to provide leadership in this regard because there is no greater injustice than the sexual abuse or violation of a child by an adult.

Deputy Adams spoke about the personal nature of the debate for his family and his niece and the way they are spoken about. I have never spoken about that.

6 o’clock

He is correct that it is a huge source of great hurt for families. I ask Deputy Adams and the supporters of his party who have attacked Maíria Cahill online and in other social media fora to think about her family and her parents, where she lives and the impact it is having on her.

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