Victims of paedophile surgeon Michael Shine meet Taoiseach in call for inquiry

By Cate McCurry, PA

Victims of disgraced surgeon and paedophile Michael Shine have met the Taoiseach as part of their bid to have a Commission of Investigation into alleged sexual abuses.

The group has urged Micheál Martin to authorise a public inquiry into alleged sexual abuses by Shine, aged 93, who was convicted of assaulting nine boys at two trials in 2017 and 2019.

The group, Dignity4Patients, is calling for a public inquiry to probe claims that authorities knew about the decades of abuse that happened at a hospital in Co Louth and at Shine’s private practice and failed to prevent it.

He had worked as a senior registrar at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda from 1964 to 1995.

Many of the survivors claim that the Medical Missionaries of Mary religious order, which was in charge of the hospital, was aware of the alleged abuse for years.

More than 200 victims have settled civil actions against the Medical Missionaries of Mary.

The victims met with Mr Martin at his office in Dublin, where they spoke of the abuse they suffered as young boys and teenagers.

Cianan Murray, from Duleek, was the first survivor to go public about his abuse in 2009.

He was aged 16 when he was abused after he received treatment for a cut to his eye at the hospital.

“I was abused in 1972 and gave a statement to the guards in 1995. They never came back to me and in 2009 I got on to the guards again. I said, whatever happened to my statement? They said, we couldn’t find your records, they went missing in the hospital, so we’re not pursuing your case and you anymore,” Mr Murray said.

“He is Europe’s most prolific paedophile. Jimmy Savile had 300 victims. There’s a French surgeon (Joel Le Scouarnec) on trial who had 300 victims. At the moment, Shine has 366 victims.

“We need to find out how could this have happened, and please, God, make sure it never happens again.

“I’d like to truth to come out because so many people have been involved in covering this up.

“He had 360 victims and nobody said nothing. Since 1995 I’ve been on depression and sleeping tablets.

“What Shine did has been an open secret.”

Gerard Murray was aged four when he was allegedly raped by Shine.

He attended hospital as a child for a hernia operation.

“He sexually abused me and I can still remember his breath whispering over my shoulder as he was raping me,” he said.

“I can’t really put into words how it effects me, but I grew up with a sense of shame, guilt, feeling unsafe and had a overpowering sense of self hatred.

“I became addicted to alcohol and drugs and became homeless and attempted suicide. My life was destroyed.

“We’re looking for a Commission of Investigation because people knew Michael Shine was sexually abusing children and young boys, yet was never stopped.

“It happened over decades. I’m 26 years clean and sober, that’s despite the State. I’ve been failed by every institution in this country.

“The Taoiseach didn’t say yes but didn’t say no either, and we need some form of accountability, truth and justice.”

Peter O’Connor, who was originally form Dundalk, was allegedly abused by Shine in 1975 after undergoing an operation as a teenager.

“I was a teenager, and I knew what had happened was wrong,” he said.

“I was very innocent then and I suffered a lot of jokes from people, about being one of Shine’s boys. The dogs on the street knew he was abusing boys.”

Mr O’Connor said he became a “heavy drinker” and only stopped drinking alcohol in recent years.

He is sceptical the State will agree to a public inquiry.

“I never had any form of help whatsoever from the State,” he said.

“The meeting with the Taoiseach went pretty much as I expected, a lot of airy talk.

“If there’s a Commission of Inquiry, I’d be really surprised.

“The dogs in the street knew what he was doing. It wasn’t a world that I was aware of. I was really, really innocent and we had such a huge respect for doctors and Shine was many, many levels above that again.”

Ian Armstrong, from Drogheda but who was living in Meath at the time he was abused, attended hospital for treatment to a hand injury when he was around the age of 18.

He said: “Mr Shine was the best surgeon around and he performed surgery on my hand. I had appointments with him after that and he seriously abused me.

“I haven’t felt the same since. I am broken. I couldn’t understand why he was doing a full body check at the appointment.

“I knew what he was doing was wrong. I can’t get out of my head what happened. It happened to so many of us.

“We just want a Commission of Investigation. Time doesn’t matter. It’s healing in the head and it’s good to be listened to.”

Larry Torris, who lives in Dundalk, was a 10-year-old when he was allegedly abused by Shine in 1994.

It was during hospital treatment in 2022 that he discovered he was a former patient of Shine, and began having flashbacks while undergoing treatment a year later.

“I have panic attacks and have been diagnosed with PTSD. I was only 10 when it happened,” he said.

“I slowly came to understand why I always had darkness over me and didn’t particularly who I was.

“The first instance of Mr Shine happened in 1964, for me it was 1994, 30 years after it first happened.

“How is it possible this can happen over a long period of time by one individual?”

Adrienne Reilly, chief executive of Dignity for Patients, said they remain “cautiously optimistic” that Mr Martin will agree to a public inquiry.

“We feel that he listened and heard what we said, and in particular, we made it known to him that we have expertise about inquiry models,” Ms Reilly said.

“We’re not starting from zero. We’re an organisation that comes with 50 per cent of the work already done.

“We’ve done a lot of deep thinking and had extensive discussions with the group about an inquiry model and what that may look like, how long it would take, where money should come from, costings and all the things that are a concern to the government.

“We made that very clear to the Taoiseach today and I think he really heard us on that front.”

A spokesperson for Mr Martin said: “The Taoiseach welcomed the opportunity to meet with members of Dignity4Patients today.

“The accounts of the abuse so many people suffered over the years were truly harrowing and enormous in scale.

“The Taoiseach thanked them for telling their stories. They discussed the need for answers, and the best ways to achieve those answers.

“The groups said they plan to meet with the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach agreed to reflect on the issues raised in today’s meeting and to continue to engage.”