Defence Forces Tribunal sexual abuse testimony, Digi Mart USA News (Ireland): A Defence Forces member who made a complaint about being raped by a noncommissioned officer (NCO) was told “the best thing you can do is forget all about it and get on with your life”, the Defence Forces Tribunal has heard.
The tribunal, presided over by Judge Ann Power, is charged with investigating how the organisation handled complaints of sexual harassment and bullying, as well as the culture surrounding these complaints.
A witness, granted anonymity to give testimony as ‘Mr H’, described two incidents of sexual abuse during Wednesday’s sitting of the tribunal. He joined An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil (FCÁ), now called the Army Reserve, in 1969 at the age of 16, later became full-time and was promoted to the rank of private, leaving the Defence Forces in 1974.
The alleged rape took place in August 1970, when he was stationed in a platoon in the Munster area. He was taking part in a training camp to become a full-time private, with the site comprising tents and small buildings, under the command of NCOs.
On the night in question, a Saturday, he joined colleagues in a local pub for drinks. Upon returning around midnight, the acting sergeant instructed him to join him in his quarters.
“I went in, there was a desk and a mattress on the floor. The next thing I remember was waking up and my clothes were down around my ankles… The acting sergeant was on top of me.
I didn’t know what was happening. I pushed him off, put on my clothes and went out the door.”
Asked by tribunal counsel Lalita Morgan Pillay, BL, whether the description of the incident as rape in a previous submission was correct, Mr H replied: “Yes, it was.” Asked why he did not report it at the time, he said: “You couldn’t talk to anyone… the NCOs were all bullies.” He said he blocked out the incident for 25 years, before he began to have nightmares and flashbacks in 1995.
A doctor advised him to report the incident to An Garda Síochána, but he did not feel there was any point. After being admitted for inpatient care at a psychiatric facility, another doctor advised him to make a complaint at Collins Barracks.
When he told two military policemen there about the sexual assault, he was told to wait in his car. After about half an hour, an Army chaplain got in.
“I told him I was seriously sexually assaulted and I wanted to make a complaint. He said ‘the best thing you can do is forget all about it and get on with your life’.” He added: “I was suicidal after that… The only thing that kept me alive was going home to my wife and children.”
In 2023, he went to a Cork Garda station to report the incident after speaking with a counsellor. After going through the “raise a concern” mechanism on the Defence Forces website, he was put in touch with two specialist gardaí, who he said were “very helpful and very professional”.
Mr H also recalled an incident involving an FCA orderly sergeant in 1972 or 1973, which he never reported. Senior counsel Gareth Compton, who represents serving and former members of the Defence Forces, asked if he would have reported it to the chaplain had he promised to act on the rape complaint.
“Maybe so,” Mr H replied. “If he had taken it seriously.”
A second man, who served as a gunner, testified about abuse at the hands of a superior, identified as ‘Sgt Maj Z’. The incidents occurred over six years in the 1990s in the sergeant major’s office.
He said he was told to stand at attention against the wall, and that the sergeant major threatened him if he reported it. He said similar incidents took place over the course of six years, and that avoiding being alone with the sergeant major was a running joke among colleagues.
He said his marriage broke down, partly due to the trauma, and that he developed a problem with drugs and alcohol after leaving the Army in 1997. He took a High Court case against the sergeant major, the State, the Minister for Defence and the Attorney General. The sergeant major was found to have sexually assaulted him, but the State, Minister for Defence and Attorney General were not found vicariously liable.
