Full public inquiry into child sex abuser Michael Shine moves a step closer
- Dignity 4Patients
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
By John Kierans- 05/03/2026- Irish Independent- [Drogheda, Ireland]- [Michael Shine]
A full scale public inquiry into the sex abuse by disgraced doctor, Michael Shine, has moved a step closer.
The Government has appointed a facilitator to begin a 16-week scoping investigation.
He is Senior Counsel Lorcan Staines and he is scheduled to begin his work this Tuesday.
Shine worked as a surgeon at the Lourdes Hospital for over 30 years and also had a private practice in the town.
So far 400 former patients alleging that he abused them have come forward.
Most were children at the time and the incidents happened at the hospital or at his private clinic.
Shine served a three-year jail sentence for sexually assaulting a number of boys. He currently lives in Dublin.
The Dignity4Patients group which represents the 400 victims welcomed the appointment of the facilitator.
CEO Adrienne Reilly said: "We’re delighted that the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has actioned the promise that she made to the victims last November to set up a scoping exercise, and then fully realising a statutory public inquiry into Michael Shine and institutions around the sexual abuse by him on hundreds of young men and boys in Drogheda.
“We’re pleased that it’s going to start. We have been working with the Minister and her officials since November, discussing how we can proceed.
“What hasn’t been announced yet is that we’ll also be working alongside Professor Phil Scraton, a human rights expert on inquiries and inquests, and Maeve Lewis, the former director of One in Four, who’s a sexual violence expert and has worked on the scoping inquiry into religious schools.
“They will work alongside the victims and survivors and ourselves and Lorcan Staines and we’ll progress with a 16 week scoping exercise looking at how we will set up this statutory public inquiry into. It’s been decades and decades of a battle, and it is finally starting.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article and were abused in state run medical and health facilities, you can contact Dignity4Patients, whose helpline is open Monday to Thursday, 10am to 4pm.
Dignity4Patients Commentary: Dignity4Patients thanks Minister Jennifer Carrol MacNeill, for the announcement made on Tuesday. It has been warmly welcomed by victims and survivors, many of whom have campaigned with immense courage to have their voices heard.
Adrienne Reilly, CEO, noted: “This marks an important and positive step forward for the victims who have shown immense courage in launching a public campaign to seek truth, acknowledgment and accountability.”
This development is welcome and look forward to working closely with Lorcan, Phil, Maeve and others involved in progressing this work to deliver the transparency and accountability that victims and survivors have long sought and deserve.
