By Saoirse McGarrigle - The Journal 21/08/2024 [IRELAND] - [Michael Shine]
A Victims of Michael Shine has revealed that he received abusive phone calls from angry supporters of the former surgeon after he reported being sexually assaulted.
Cianan Murray, 68, said that Shine was considered “a God”, even after patients began coming forward to gardaí about sordid attacks while under his care.
The father of two, from Duleek, County Meath, is one of a number of victims who yesterday launched a fresh campaign to urge the Minister for Justice to set up a Commission of Investigation.
Speaking to The Journal, he said: “I first made my statement in 1995 and I never got justice.”
The DPP did not recommend charges in relation to Cianan’s case. He says this decision has haunted him for more than 29 years. He believes that he was failed by the justice system.
Yesterday, the Taoiseach confirmed the government is reviewing the case and will discuss what “actions are next appropriate in light of very strong comments by victims”.
Cianan has been prescribed anti-depressants and sleeping tablets since 1995 and the experience of telling gardaí about the abuse and failing to get justice was traumatising.
Adding to the hurt, he remembers receiving disturbing calls from supporters of the former surgeon.
“We had some people ringing to complain and say what a wonderful man Shine was and how dare we say anything bad about him. There were a lot of abusive calls from supporters of Shine.”
It is now almost three decades since Cianan made a statement about the crimes, but he is still “waiting for justice”.
Cianan is one of a core group of individuals who have advocated for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Shine abuse case – previously speaking of his experience and urging others to come forward.
At one point he operated a helpline and recalls receiving distressing phone calls, including from some victims who were suicidal.
“I’d get these phone calls. People didn’t want their name out there. It was very sad listening to these stories.
“My wife was in charge of the phone at one stage. She received a call from a man one night and he was about to attempt suicide and she talked him out of it.
“We meet this man now regularly around the town and he thanks her every time he sees her.”
Cianan says he was abused by Michael Shine in 1972.
“I was 16 and I was in hospital having stitches removed from my eye. Shine came in and examined me.
“He said that I looked a little run down and maybe I should come down to his surgery in Fair Street the following Saturday morning.
“I told my mother and father and they were thrilled that someone like Shine would take an interest in me. He was a God in Drogheda. “I went to him on that Saturday morning and that was where the abuse occurred.”
He never told his parents what happened, but in 1995 he made a criminal complaint.
On the day that he spoke to The Journal he had just received from An Garda Síochána a copy of his original handwritten statement. In the event that a public inquiry is established, documents such as Cianan’s statement could be relevant to the work of the commission.
Cianan insists that a Commission of Investigation should examine several different agencies including the Medical Missionaries of Mary and the former North Eastern Health Board.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly also raised the question yesterday if the decision to not publish a 2009/2010 report into the abuse should be revisited. 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.