What sort of negative impacts can this have on a child as they grow up into adulthood? What are them ramifications? Can you give examples?

Well, I think for most children, again, child sexual abuse happens often in a relational context.

So, you know, it's often not just one incident.

It might be someone that's familiar to the child.

So it can be very confusing.

The nervous system, I suppose, the development of the child is impacted.

So that fight or flight kicks in at a very young age and it stays with the person over their lifetime.

How do we prevent this issue? Because a lot of times it happens behind closed doors and sadly in family homes.

How difficult an aspect is that going to be for survivors to read today?

Sadly, it's not uncommon.

I think a lot of people that we work with on a daily basis will have made attempts to disclose what's happened to them, and I think in this situation, it speaks volumes to the power of the abuse.

Um, we know that abusers rely on inequalities, age, authority, and reputation to silence children and their families, and I suppose we've seen in this situation where institutions have prioritized their own image or comfort rather than a child's safety.

And again, I think, uh, it shows, in this case, how these men have, you know, I suppose, p- tried to put that aside.

Survivors will always speak of the doubt that they have in themselves that they will be believed, um, and again, I think in this case, i- it's highlighted.

They've been told on numerous occasions, and it's been demonstrated that they weren't believed.

W- would you like to hear further assurances from Gardai that what happened during this time could not happen again?

Tell us about the services that are on offer for those who do come forward.

I think our advocacy service is the busiest service and certainly it was in 2024.

And I think that speaks to, you know, probably why so many men reached out.

We support people to engage in the criminal justice system.

And that is something that can be very daunting for people.

People want to maybe report to the guards, not sure how to go about it.

So that service really talks and manages, I suppose, the anxiety or helps people manage the anxiety of those legal processes.

Were you surprised when you saw that the figure was a record for this year?