Sinn Féin and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have come badly out of the inquiry into allegations of rape made by Máiría Cahill. The police have at least made a proper apology and three officers have been disciplined for failing to act in the appropriate manner. The same cannot be said of Sinn Féin and its leader Mary Lou McDonald whose latest response to the episode has still failed to address the central points made by Cahill.
While McDonald has issued an unreserved apology for the way the allegations of rape were handled, and praised Cahill’s bravery, she sidestepped taking responsibility for the way the republican movement handled the issue for so long.
McDonald maintained that Sinn Féin now has robust procedures in place for mandatory reporting of abuse and expressed regret that such procedures were not in place at the time of Máiría Cahill’s initial complaint. What she failed to mention was that the republican movement did have a procedure to deal with such disclosures but it was a kangaroo court which operated outside the law.
Cahill has described the apology by the Sinn Féin leader as “woefully inadequate” as, she said, it failed to admit there was an IRA investigation followed by a Sinn Féin cover up. What made matters worse was that McDonald failed to address Sinn Féin attempts to discredit her over a long period. “They told everyone that I was a liar. Now, let’s hear them admit I told the truth,” said Cahill.
McDonald has been vociferous in her condemnation of the Catholic Church for its failure to deal properly with claims of abuse and its attempts to sweep them under the carpet. Those denunciations look particularly hollow in the light of the Sinn Féin leader's continued refusal to come up with an adequate apology to Máiría Cahill for all that she has suffered over such a long period.
The inquiry by the Police Ombudsman also identified a number of failings by the PSNI in its handling of the complaint made by Cahill and two other women. It is to be hoped that the lessons have been learned by the police and that victims of sexual abuse will be treated properly in future.