"I AM sure the previous guy was a very nice guy.

It takes a moment to realise the speaker is talking about the person he used to be before torture and exile changed him.

He has been granted the right to live in Ireland but is scared of being identified by the people he fears might still want to kill him.

In his own country he endured years of intermittent detention and torture. "The person I used to be was a strong person. I had no emotions in the sense of crying. I was talking to people and just helping people all the time. I never looked after myself, I always looked after everyone else."

Today all that has changed "I am afraid to open my door. I am afraid to walk down the road, I am afraid to meet people. You are always suspicious of these people. You don't discuss your life you are too scared. When you have been tortured you are more aware and it's hammered into you that it could happen to you again. You are not entirely safe when you arrive in another country. If they want to kill you they will go to lengths to kill you."

Being a refugee is extremely distressing, especially when waiting for a decision to be allowed to live and work here permanently.

"The stress is tremendous. There are people waiting for three years to know about it.

How can they do that? I was going to commit suicide because I could not carry on with my life."

Irish doctors and hospitals know little about torture, and refugees find it hard to talk to doctors in any event since doctors may have assisted their torturers, he says. The same applies to dealings with public officials and police.

The start of a turning point for him came when he was referred to psychotherapist, Ms Mairead Ryan. He has learned to trust her, communicate with her. "Things I have pent up inside for years are slowly coming out. But we are not even half way through what happened."

The man we spoke to is convinced of the need for a specialist, independent treatment centre. "To find a person to trust away from Government offices, that is what is needed someone they can trust and can open their hearts to." And his own hope for the future? "To be able to live a normal life. To be able to go and be successful again."