Parties back Cahill after O’Neill comments

MAIRIA Cahill has welcomed the backing of political parties after Sinn Fein’s deputy leader declined to state clearly whether she believes the west Belfast woman was raped by a republican in her teens.

Ms Cahill said yesterday that Michelle O’Neill’s reluctance to categorically answer whether or not she accepted her account that she had been abused in the 1990s had prompted an outpouring of support from across the political spectrum.

In a BBC Inside Politics interview broadcast on Friday, despite describing Ms Cahill as a “victim”, Mrs O’Neill said: “It’s not for me to say that I believe her.”

She was responding to presenter Mark Davenport who pressed her over whether or not she accepted Ms Cahill’s account of the abuse.

Mrs O’Neill did, however, commend Ms Cahill — who said she was subjected to an IRA ‘kangaroo court’ in which she was forced to confront her alleged attacker after reporting the sex abuse to senior Sinn Fein figures — for waiving her anonymity.

In response, three of Northern Ireland’s political leaders — the UUP’s Robin Swann, Colum Eastwood of the SDLP and Alliance’s Naomi Long — along with two TDs in the Republic, Thomas Byrne and Regina Doherty — joined fellow Twitter users by tweeting #IBelieveHer over the weekend. Ms Cahill (below) also revealed that she had received a phone call of support from DUP leader Arlene Foster, who retweeted a link to a Belfast Telegraph story on Mrs O’Neill’s interview, adding that she appreciated the “nice and kind” gesture.

“Arlene was ringing me on a personal level to see if I was okay, and if I needed anything,” she revealed.

The SDLP councillor who sits on Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council stressed that Sinn Fein was making a “mockery” of itself by not acknowledging her account that she had been sexually abused by Martin Morris on a number of occasions from 1997 to 1998.

Mr Morris was acquitted of charges of rape and IRA membership and denies any wrongdoing.

A recent Police Ombudsman report into the PSNI’s handling of Ms Cahill’s abuse allegation had found that the RUC did not act on information about the alleged abuse 10 years before her report in 2010.

“They (Sinn Fein) don’t have the luxury of distancing themselves.

“They know there was an IRA investigation into my abuse and they know I was abused,” Ms Cahill insisted.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has since “unreservedly apologised” that at the time of Ms Cahill’s alleged abuse, the party did not have robust procedures in place for mandatory reporting of such matters.

Ms Cahill said Mrs O’Neill’s latest comments had left “people rightly frustrated”, adding that the support she has received from other parties was welcomed.“It may support anybody else who may need to come forward to disclose their abuse,” she continued.

Sinn Fein was asked for a comment. However, no response was received.