‘He can go to hell for all I care’ – New Victims of Michael Shine Emerge
- Dignity 4Patients
- 22 hours ago
- 5 min read
By John Kierans- 03/12/2025- Drogheda Independent- [Ireland]- [Michael Shine]
There could be up to 1,000 victims of paedophile monster Dr Michael Shine as more and more new cases emerge every week.
That is the grave fear of one of his victims Gerard Murray who tells the Drogheda Independent that he was raped by the monster as a four year child as he welcomed the Government's proposed 16 weeks scoping inquiry into the horrific child sex abuse scandal.
He said for every new victim that contacts their representative group Dignity4Patients, worldwide studies have shown there are probably three more victims out there who are too terrified to talk about their ordeal and get in touch.
It sickens Gerard to his bare bones that 93-year-old Shine, has his freedom and is out an about walking the streets while the vast majority of the children he abused and never got justice.
Gerard said "He should be in jail and that is the harsh truth of it. This man is probably the biggest paedophile in Europe - bigger than Jimmy Saville.
"So far almost 400 of his victims have come forward, new cases are emerging almost every week and I would say the more accurate real figure is probably more like 1,000 children that he sexually abused.
"Studies have found for every sex abuse case there are usually three or four other victims who are too ashamed, embarrassed, or frightened to come forward.
"Michael Shine only did three years in jail for abusing nine boys but he should never have been freed early for good behaviour or given remission because he never once apologized or admitted what he did.
"He says he is a religious man but he can go to hell for all I care for what he did to me and all his other victims."
Now fifty three years of age Gerard like the vast majority of Shine's victims has not had his day in court.
Over 200 victims have received some form of financial compensation from the then owners of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, the Medical Missionaries of Mary but little or none have seen Shine prosecuted for what he did to them individually.
Last week the Government ordered a 16 week scoping enquiry into the Shine sex abuse scandal after a 32-year campaign on the orders of the Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeil who has met Gerard. She was deeply moved by the victims she met and their quest for justice. Gerard and Dignity4Patients are looking for answers.
Michael Shine worked in the Lourdes Hospital from 1964 until he was asked to retire in the mid nineties. The first official complaint of sexual abuse was made against him in 1977 - the year Gerard complains he was raped by him.
Yet he was allowed to continue to practise despite the best efforts of whistle-blower nurse Bernadette Sullivan.
Gerard said: "We all want answers from the doctors, the nurses, the nuns, the Gardai.”
"Many of these incidents could have been avoided".
"Why did the management at the Lourdes Hospital and the nuns choose to believe Shine above his victims, and keep him employed there. Just think of all the children who could have avoided this abuse."
Gerard, like all of the victims, wants to see one outcome from the scoping inquiry: a full blown state commission of investigation into Shine's notorious legacy of abuse.
He stated: "I know some of the people who were in positions of authority at that time are dead but we want the investigation team to have the power to compel various witnesses to testify.
"We have most of the names of those who have questions to answer and some want nothing to do with any of us.
"But they each have to be held to account"
He personally is also very annoyed with the DPP for refusing to charge Michael Shine with raping him.
Gerard recalled: "The DPP said they couldn't do it because of some legal technicality which I don't believe is good enough.
"I believe the DPP has questions to answer and needs to have a second look. It does not seem right. Here we have a man who abused hundreds of children and they have all come forward and are willing to testify.
"Yet he is only charged with sexually assaulting just nine boys and serves only three years of a four year sentence in jail. It is not justice and it is wrong. The DPP must look again at all the new cases that have emerged including my own.
"This man ruined my childhood and almost destroyed my life. Every young boy in Drogheda at the time was afraid to go to the Lourdes."
When he was in his twenties Gerard took to the drink to try and bury his demons caused by the sexual abuse. He ended up homeless and living rough on the Ramparts along the river Boyne.
These days he has rebuilt his life, is married and hasn't drank for years.
He is very pleased the new scoping inquiry is going ahead and feels the victims can trust the minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeil.
He added: "She seems genuinely interested and alarmed at what happened to all of us and wants to get answers. I trust her to do the right thing and I don't think we felt that with any other minister.
"I also have to thank all the politicians in County Louth who have supported Dignity4Patients and all of the victims. We appreciate their help."
He said: "This scandal is colossal. This guy was the biggest child sex abuser in Europe , there is no one to match him.
"He used his privileged position as a doctor and surgeon to get away with it for decades. I genuinely reckon there has to be at least 1,000 victims. We are coming across new cases almost every week.
"The doctors and nurses need to tell us why they did what they did.
"This scoping inquiry is the first step but you can't get to the bottom of it in16 weeks. it is too big for that."
Shine was convicted in 2019 and to date more than 390 men have made allegations of abuse against the now disgraced doctor.
Adrienne Reilly, CEO of Dignity4Patients said: "Victims and survivors welcome the fact that the Minister and the government appear to have listened to their call for a statutory inquiry – and to start a victim-centred process that victims and survivors leading to an inquiry with full legal powers to compel individuals and organisations to appear.
“Victims hope this process will finally provide answers to long-standing questions about how their sexual abuse was handled by Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, the religious order running the hospital, the Medical Missionaries of Mary, An Garda Síochána, and successive Departments of Health.”
“They remain ‘cautiously optimistic’ as they enter this first cycle of engagement. The devil will be in the details.
“It is now 49 years since the first complaint of sexual abuse by Michael Shine was reported to hospital authorities in 1977. This campaign has been ongoing for 32 years, first initiated by whistle-blower nurse Bernadette Sullivan.”
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
