Updated 7.50pm
TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY has confirmed he will meet Maíria Cahill to discuss her allegations against Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and other members of the republican movement.
A government spokesperson told TheJournal.ie last night that plans are under way for the meeting following Cahill’s request on Twitter on Friday afternoon.
Cahill’s allegations have seen increasing pressure on Sinn Féin in recent days following a BBC Spotlight programme earlier this week during which she said that she was raped by a senior member of the IRA in 1997 when she was 16 years old.
Cahill says that when told about the abuse, the IRA convened a ‘kangaroo court’ in a bid to mete out justice to the alleged perpetrator, and that she was forced to confront him.
She also made claims about a conversations she had with Gerry Adams several years after the abuse, which Adams is disputing.
Speaking yesterday, she said that she believed that there were many other victims of sexual abuse within the republican movement who were treated the same way, and called on Sinn Féin members to come forward with details about the alleged cover-up.
Cahill sought a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny as well as one with Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson to outline her concerns.
“The Taoiseach is happy to meet Maíria and arrangements are being made,” the spokesperson said.
Sinn Féin politicians, including deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, have rallied in support of Gerry Adams in the face of the claims about how he dealt with the alleged abuse.
Adams has said he is ‘horrified’ that certain remarks were attributed to him in the BBC programme and has denied making them.
First published 7.29am
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say