A new probe is taking place into a man described as Europe’s most prolific paedophile. Irish former hospital consultant, Michael Shine, now aged 93, was convicted in 2017 and 2019 of sexual offences. Later, in 2020, he was convicted of assaulting seven boys between 1971 and 1992. He has served three years in prison. Now, a so-called “scoping exercise” into Shine is to take place, lasting around 16 weeks. It is being conducted by Lorcan Staines SC.
Shine was described in the Dáil, the Irish Parliament, by Sinn Féin Louth TD Joanna Byrne as “the most prolific paedophile in Europe”, with the charity Dignity4Patients supporting more than 390 alleged survivors. It has been reported that more than 400 have come forward. Labour TD Ged Nash said a number have died with no justice.
The Irish health minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, said the total number of individuals purportedly affected by Shine’s abuse could be in the high hundreds.
By the time he retired from working in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda – where he was employed from 1964 until 1995, the surgeon was already the subject of multiple allegations of sexual abuse, from as far back as the 1970s.
Ms Byrne suggested that reports were made to hospital authorities as early as 1964, the Irish Times reported.
Ms Carroll MacNeill said: “I acknowledge the many people affected, including several I have been fortunate enough to meet. Reports suggest that the total number of those impacted is in the high hundreds and it ranges across a huge age span.
“These individuals have demonstrated remarkable bravery as they continue their pursuit of justice for the serious wrongdoing they experienced.”
She added regarding the process: “This scoping exercise is designed to ensure that when a public inquiry is established, it has structures and parameters that reflect the needs of children and families of patients, are grounded in evidence and avoid duplication with existing statutory or clinical processes.”
The minister emphasised that the Government is committed to establishing a public inquiry and “will take recommendations from Mr Staines in the same way as to the content, form and structure of an appropriate inquiry that meets all of the needs that have been identified”.
Ms Byrne suggested that a public inquiry is needed “to allow the full truth to emerge”, adding that “we need to know at the end of this process precisely the detail of the crimes that Michael Shine committed”.
The TD also emphasised that “we also need to know who knew, and at what stage they knew, and how in God’s name this was allowed to continue for so long that so many young lives were destroyed.”
