The woman who wrote to Mr Bobby Molloy on behalf of her brother after his conviction for the rape of his daughter said last night she had not intended to "destroy anybody's career or "damage anybody's reputation".
In a statement Ms Anne Naughton said she had been "trying to get some answers" on behalf of her brother Patrick, whose sentencing for the serial abuse of his daughter this week sparked Mr Molloy's resignation.
Mrs Naugton said her letters to Mr Molloy contained simple questions about the trial.
She never sought special favours or attention and only contacted Mr Molloy when she had failed to get answers elsewhere and felt she had no choice but to turn to her local TD, she told RTÉ news.
The letters pointed to her belief that there had been an error in her brother's trial. Mrs Naughton was sorry the letters "went the wrong way" and apologised for any "confusion and upset" her actions had caused.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Molloy rejected suggestions that he was seeking in some way to have Mr Naughton temporarily released.
The former minister of State said he passed on a query about the legal process from the man's sister and saw nothing wrong with any of the letters sent.
Mr Molloy said he wanted to apologise to the victim for any further upset caused.
On RTÉ's Morning Ireland yesterday he said: "This was a terrible case, and no way was I doing anything that was seeking to interfere in the hearing of that case.
"I passed on queries that she had given to me. I wasn't making any representations. I wasn't seeking or pleading on his behalf or anything of that nature and I'm shocked that that interpretation has been put upon it and I absolutely and utterly reject it," Mr Molloy said.
"I wasn't asking the Minister to please let him out. For God's sake, I'm shocked and I am very upset at even the suggestion that I would in any way seek to do that, to interfere in any way," he said.
"I never spoke to John O'Donoghue and I'm very upset that John O'Donoghue is being put up there now and being quizzed, and the Opposition parties are trying to pin him down. I see nothing wrong with any of these letters.
"The issue was in crossing the line between the executive and the judiciary, and the reason I resigned was due to the fact that one of my secretaries, while attempting to contact the judge's secretary, or rightly the registrar of the court, on my instructions, inadvertently got through to the judge personally. That was the issue," he said.
He was asked what he would say to the victim, who had expressed incredulity that he got involved in this case.
"It's extraordinary that people can put motivations against me that are absolutely and utterly contrary to my whole thinking, my whole attitude, and to tell me that I was trying to get somebody temporarily released because I put through a query on behalf of his sister about legal procedures and legal processes is absolutely extraordinary and I would ask any fair-minded person to look at these letters and think, well, where did Molloy ask for this fellow to be released?
"It's the last thing in the world I would do."