Dublin Rape Crisis Centre reports record number of calls

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has reported record levels of calls to its helpline last year.

The centre says it received more than 16,000 calls in 2005, compared to just under 12,000 the previous year.

24% of the calls came from outside Dublin, up from 10% in 2004.

Elsewhere, the Rape Crisis Centre said 46% of the calls related to child sexual abuse, with the Ferns Report into clerical sex abuse in Wexford prompting an upsurge in such calls in October and November.