Eleven members of a traveler’s family raped and abused by the family’s father are to sue Gardai and child welfare authorities for failing to protect them.
James O’Reilly was convicted two years ago for sexually abusing and raping his sister and seven daughters.
Originally from Thurles, County Tipperary, O’Reilly raised, starved, and beat her family in a fight, despite regular interaction with social welfare agencies and authorities.
After a tragic trial, O’Reilly’s victims abandoned anonymity and called for a hearing on omissions by state authorities. They claimed that their childhood contributed to the failure. Several government ministers have expressed concern about the case.
However, public investigation never happened. Family members are seeking access to the case files held by Tusla, Child and Family Agency. Eleven members of the O’Reilly family are currently in the High Court proceedings.
Legal action has been taken by seven sisters who abandoned anonymity to emphasize sexual abuse, an aunt who was raped and abused by her father, and three other families.
They are suing James O’Reilly and other relatives, as well as children and family agents, the HSE, the Minister of Justice, the Garda Commissioner, and the local governments of Tipperary and Kilkenny.
O’Reilly, 77, died in prison last Monday, two years after being sentenced to 20 years in prison. Due to his death, one of the victims, Helen Odonohue, commented on Twitter:
Tusla said it released all related files to some families on request this weekend. She is also in the process of outsourcing an external review of the case file, the statement said.
James O’Reilly sexually abused his children and sister between 1977 and 2000. He raped, beaten, hurt and starved.
He raped his sister Christine Looney when she was 13 and continued to abuse her for several years.
One of his daughters became pregnant with him when she was 16 years old. Her father continued to rape her during her pregnancy, claiming that he would blame her other man for raping her after she gave birth to her daughter.
He took another daughter to the swamp and raped her when she was just eight years old. Another of his children said he raped her in a van if it was raining and in a field if it wasn’t raining.
The court heard that another daughter had been raped since the age of 10, and he continued to rape three times a week for six years. At one point she was admitted to the hospital because of her head injury that he affected her during her beating.
In a post-conviction interview with O’Reilly, her sister Helen Odonohue revealed details about abuse, trauma, beatings, hunger, and the horrific life of neglect.
Courts heard she was raped, hungry, and beaten for life. She said she didn’t know about Christmas gifts and Christmas dinners.
She explained the hunger of the children and how they robbed the trash cans in the nearby garden and ate the scraps thrown out of the windows.
Children were also refused education. Odnohue explained that he was sent to school for a week or two for communion and confirmation, and then was taken out.
She accused various state agencies of witnessing negligence but keeping silence. She said a social worker visited her family once a month. She said another sister reported rape and sexual abuse to social workers 23 years ago.
At the time of O’Reilly’s conviction in 2020, Tasla announced that he was conducting a trawl net of family case files. Children’s minister at the time, Catherine Zapone, said she was shocked by the details of the abuse and she asked Tusla to report.
But this weekend, Tusla confirmed that it had just begun an external review of the case files.
Authorities said this was due to legal reasons. According to the statement, Tusla does not routinely comment on individual cases, but is aware of the “ongoing pain” experienced by the victims in this case.
He said he was working with the Children’s Department and “some families” to agree on the most appropriate way to ensure “future learning” from the incident.
“We strive to make all relevant documents and records, including those transferred from former South Eastern Health Boards and Health Service Executives prior to the establishment of the institution, available to some families upon request. “It was,” the statement said.
“In addition to the complexity of the case, both in terms of the number of people and places involved in history, aggressive reviews could only be considered when all criminal procedures were completed, that is, in the last few months. ..
“We are in the process of outsourcing an external review of the relevant case files, and the results of this review will inform future practices.”
Tusla also said it has implemented recommendations for national travelers and Rome’s inclusion strategy.