Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

When I first raised the issue of the abuse of power by retired judge James O'Connor, the Taoiseach replied to me saying, "It is clear to me that there are avenues for people to deal with the abuse[s] of power". What is precisely demonstrated by this case, however, is that those avenues did not work.

The first woman went to the Garda and was told there was nothing to investigate and it was a normal situation of boy meets girl. It was anything but a normal situation. It was a judge in court who met a vulnerable woman in front of him as a result of a family law issue. He got her number in the context of that meeting in court and then used it to pursue her completely inappropriately and persistently in a way that made her scared about a sexual relationship. She went to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, but also got no joy. She contacted and wrote two letters to the Taoiseach's office. I sent two emails to him, which had no response. We understand from freedom of information, FOI, requests that the Chief Justice and the Minister for Justice were aware of this case.

Unless that woman had very bravely decided to speak out, which she should not have to do, and I pay tribute to her and to the other women who did so, absolutely nothing would be happening in this case. We need action and change to ensure people in these circumstances are not subjected to the kind of abuse and imbalance of power situations that exist between judges and people in front of them.

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