James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my party for giving me the opportunity to contribute to these statements on the allegations regarding the sexual abuse by members of the provisional republican movement. I commend Deputy Regina Doherty and others for their very passionate statements. Like many Deputies, I have followed the story of Maíria Cahill on a daily basis over the past few months. Although I have never met Maíria I have read and listened to her story and I believe she is a formidable and intelligent woman with a substantial case to make about the sexual abuse she had to endure at the hands of a member of the provisional IRA.

I congratulate her on the courageous stance she is taking. Since she came forward she has been abused again and again, mocked online and by members of the republican movement. Some republicans have sought to degrade her stance at every possible opportunity. I have seen some of the personally abusive remarks Maíria had to contend with on Twitter and Facebook. Some of them are horrific. I plead with Deputy Adams to demand that this carry-on stop. He has not made a statement to this effect. He should stop it. He has the power to stop it if he wants to and he should do it right away. It is a shame on him to allow this to happen to a decent, respectable woman. I would not wish it on my own worst enemy or on anybody else here or anywhere in the world. She is not deserving of the scandalous accusations by anonymous Internet users.

Maíria’s story is a harrowing one. When she was just 16 years of age she was subjected to sexual abuse which in her own words “destroyed” her young life. She had to sit before an IRA kangaroo court and was forced to confront her alleged abuser. During this so-called court case Maíria says she was told that they would be able to tell if she was lying by her body language. How disgraceful that is. How can Deputy Adams stand over something like that? How can he, in this day and age? What he allowed to happen in his party was ridiculous.

Maíria’s innocence was taken away from her at a very young age 17 years ago. She was forced to mature much more quickly than other girls of her age. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain that victims of sexual abuse must experience but the thought of having to face one’s abuser and relive the ordeal in a makeshift court is one I do not like to dwell upon. Maíria described having a great personal difficulty with the people whose responsibility it was to make decisions in this court.

I am deeply concerned about an issue Maíria has raised, that IRA abusers were moved around. Republican perpetrators of abuse were moved around the country, across the Border and between parishes and townlands. This measure ensured these dreadful perpetrators were free to abuse again. They were allowed to carry on with their awful crimes against children.

As Maíria Cahill pointed out in a letter to the IRA army council 14 years ago, "I can't accept the fact that he is free to live somewhere else with access to other children". How many other children was this individual allowed to abuse? Deputy Adams might be able to answer that question. I have no doubt that other victims of IRA sexual abuse are terrified by the thought of coming forward because of the manner in which they would be treated by some people in the republican movement. I hope they will find the courage that Maíria has found. They deserve justice. They should be able to come forward without having to endure the personal abuse Maíria has endured since she went public with her case. Maíria's story has been consistent. She has never deviated or changed her story from day one. I believe Maíria's testimony is credible. I believe she is telling the truth. It is commendable that Maíria has managed to stay the course in defiance of the abuse she has suffered. Her story is finally being told to the Irish people and the world at large.

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