The Women of Honour group that first exposed sexual abuse and harassment allegations in the Defence Forces welcomed the recommendations of Tuesday’s Independent Review Group but will seek further clarity on exactly how a statutory inquiry will proceed.
Its members, who have steadfastly pushed for an investigation with full powers of compellability, are also adamant they should be involved in framing any terms of reference.
They met Minister of Defence and Tánaiste Micheál Martin on Monday in advance of the report’s publication and will seek follow-up talks in the coming days once they have had sufficient time to consider the document’s contents.
“We are happy to have got a form of statutory inquiry. I think we have to go back in to verify with the Tánaiste…what exactly the type of statutory inquiry that he is going to hold,” said Karina Molloy, one of the group who met with Mr Martin.
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Ms Molloy was enlisted to the first female platoon of private soldiers in the history of Oglaigh na h’Eireann in 1981.
She reiterated the group’s position that any inquiry must have powers to compel both witnesses and documents. It believes the ultimate outcome would be a report that could feed into criminal prosecutions.
Group members were continuing to examine the contents of the report on Tuesday evening but said they were not surprised by what they had read.
“We have all lived through it. We have lived through the abuse and the physical abuse, the mental abuse, so there’s nothing that’s shocking in there. It’s shocking for a civilian to read,” Ms Molloy said. “I was reading part of it and I said, oh yes, there’s me, that’s my life, that’s what I had to do and my fellow members of the Women of Honour had to go through.”
The group first raised their allegations and concerns publicly in a 2021 Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) documentary, prompting then minister for defence Simon Coveney to establish the independent review. Its members rejected what they felt was a “flawed” process and have yet to be fully convinced its recommendations will deliver what they have agitated for.
Retired captain and group member Diane Byrne said they welcomed the commitment for a statutory inquiry but “it has to be sufficient to do what needs to be done”.
“This is the starting point for us. It’s been so long coming and because we’re not particularly surprised by the contents in terms of the findings we are delighted to see that they are getting the measure of what’s really happened.”
Ms Byrne said the group will push to be involved in the design of the terms of reference. Although the Tánaiste said nothing of the report’s recommendations during their meeting on Monday, the group took solace in his expressed determination to engage them in the future, reading this now as a reference to a forthcoming inquiry.
“We have always made it clear that there will be no solution and there will be no Defence Forces at the rate things are going unless there is victim collaboration through the entire process,” Ms Byrne said.
“If it’s a statutory inquiry that isn’t victim led or doesn’t have that extent of victim collaboration they are going to get it wrong.”
