I am the first person to say it was the wrong thing to do, I regret it deeply and I am deeply sorry for it.
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Former IRA abuse victim Mairia Cahill has told of her “pride” after winning a seat in the Seanad. “I didn’t think about it at the time and I’ve had a lot of reflection since” she said.
Four candidates have contested this by-election after Jimmy Harte chose to vacant the position following a long illness after an accident.
She said she resigned because she did not want the position and that she was pregnant at the time.
She said republican paramilitaries conducted their own inquiry and subjected her to interrogation before forcing her to confront her alleged attacker.
The man she accused of raping her was prosecuted but later acquitted of all charges against him after two separate court cases in 2014.
After her election, Ms Cahill said she would invite sex abuse organisations to the senate to discuss support for victims. She has the backing of both government parties.
In the run-up to the Seanad election, she declined several media invitations to appear alongside other candidates to discuss the campaign.
Mairia, who admitted that she was once a member of a dissident republican group, Republican Network for Unity – a revelation she described as an attempt to smear her reputation – won widespread public and political admiration for her determination to expose how republicans handled claims of sexual abuse by members.
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“She now has the opportunity to use her period in the Seanad to continue this work and also to draw on her background in youth employment, activism and community enterprise to affect positive change in the lives of jobseekers”.
