Health Minister to meet victims of Michael Shine.
- Dignity 4Patients
- Apr 15
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 29
LMFM News - 15/04/25 - [Michael Shine] - [IRELAND]
Since January six more men have contacted the support group Dignity4Patients saying they were abused by the former Drogheda surgeon.
More men have come forward alleging they were abused by Michael Shine.
The disgraced surgeon, who worked at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda and in private practice in the town, served three years in prison for indecent and sexual assault of seven boys between 1971 and 1992.
Dignity For Patients will meet the Taoiseach Micheál Martin tomorrow as part of their campaign for a commission of investigation to probe claims that health and religious authorities failed to stop the abuse.
Speaking on the Agenda with Ken Murry, its CEO Adrienne O'Reilly says she's hopeful of a positive outcome:
"We've done so much work to get in front of the Taoiseach. We hope he's meeting us in really good faith. He's been well informed. We know that he has our concerns in front of him.
We've shared them with the Fianna Fáil politicians and we're just going to hope that he does the right thing. He was the Minister for Health when the Neary inquiry went ahead. Now I know it wasn't a statutory inquiry but he is across what happened in that hospital. So we're remaining positive."
Adrienne Reilly says the number of people contacting the support group is still increasing:
"Since January we've had six new victims come forward and one of them is 75. He actually went public last week. His name is Thomas Ayres, a seriously successful businessman living in Wales and he waited until his wife died and he felt he was in a place where he could actually do something.
He was abused in 1964. And then we've had another young man come forward and he was abused in 1994. And they've only come forward this year."
She says it's important that people know about what Michael Shine did:
"The reality is Michael Shine does not need to be alive for a commission of investigation. Jimmy Savile was dead and he was part of the large sexual abuse inquiry in the UK, which we can learn from. And Michael Shine is Ireland's Jimmy Savile. He is Ireland's French doctor that abused 300 plus children in France.
And nobody knows his name in this country except local people and some people interested. But Irish society needs to know and we need to be able to let the victims and survivors move on."
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:- Many victims desire a Commission of Investigation not only to establish how their abuse went undiscovered, or how those in positions of authority failed to protect them. But the desire and acknowledgement of the abuse that happened and the subsequent trauma of delayed justice. Many simply want what happened never to be repeated. How can we guarantee that without a Commission of Investigation, learning outcomes and recommendations? #StopSexualAbuse #TruthMatters
