By Emma McMenamy - Dublin Live - 07.08.2022
A victim of serial paedophile Michael Shine has told of his shock after coming face to face with him on a city street.
Pat Cusack, 60, who was abused by the twisted former doctor as an 11-year-old boy, locked eyes with the pervert on Dublin’s main thoroughfare. Shocked Pat saw Shine as he got off a bus outside the Gresham Hotel on O’Connell Street. Dad-of-eight Pat, from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, said it was the first time he felt stronger than the paedophile.
He told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “When I saw him in the court during the trial I felt like a rabbit caught in the headlamp of a car. I completely froze and felt totally helpless and physically felt sick and had to run out of the court and vomit.
“This time though I felt like I was holding the lamp and he was the rabbit caught in it. “There was a split second where he caught my eye and I caught his and his jaw dropped.
“I did get a flicker of reaction in his eye which I never got before and that’s when I felt I had the power, I had the upper hand.” Shine, 89, was released from the Midlands Prison in February after being sentenced to four years in 2019 for sexually assaulting seven boys over three decades.
Pat said he realised there was no point in confronting the predator as he still believes he has done nothing wrong.
He added: “I know that it wouldn’t do anything by confronting him, it doesn’t work, he’s not going to express any remorse.
“I was toying with the idea and then I said, ‘It’s not bothering him in the slightest so maybe I shouldn’t traumatise myself anymore.’ He’s the classic paedophile in that he will never ever see what he has done as wrong.”
As a schoolboy, Pat was referred to see Shine at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda after complaining of stomach cramps.
He was abused by Shine in a consultation room while his parents waited outside. Gardai have dealt with 189 complaints and at one stage there were 218 civil cases against Shine.
Pat said he will use his voice to talk about his ordeal and the impact abuse has had on his life. He added: “I won’t miss an opportunity to stand up and speak out.” If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Dignity4Patients, whose helpline is open Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm.