Trish Kearney: 'You can tell your secret and you can feel better with support' 

Trish Kearney has written a book about George Gibney, called Above Water.Picture: Larry Cummins

An abuse survivor, Trish Kearney has said that there is hope for recovery and that if "you are hurting and you need to tell somebody your secret, you can tell your secret and you can feel better with support".

Speaking last night on RTÉ's Late Late Show, the Cork woman shared her story of abuse at the hands of George Gibney, an internationally recognised swimming coach. 

Originally from Dublin, Ms Kearney was a talented swimmer and was just 13 when she first encountered Gibney who sexually assaulted her for many years. She later walked away from competitive swimming just before the Seoul Olympics in 1988. 

Gibney later avoided trial in Ireland on 27 counts of indecent assault and unlawful carnal knowledge, of young Irish swimmers, and now lives freely in the US.

"We were left with no conviction and for a lot of people at the time, no crime," said Ms Kearney who said the failure to convict her abuse did cause her pain. However she now draws comfort from the fact that she and her children will never meet Gibney again. 

"It bothered me enormously, earlier on in my life, but not so much now because I feel, for me its been rather healing that I knew that I would never meet him if I came up to Dublin from Cork, because my family all live up here. 

Trish Kearney's interview last night with Ryan Tubridy drew widespread praise. Picture: RTÉ

"I was very happy and contented that I was living my life and he was far away. As I often said to many people: 'I love that he doesn't share my sky with him, I love that I never have to worry that my children met him or saw him or even that I saw him'. 

"But I'm very aware that a huge number of people have been abused by George Gibney and that have come forward maybe as a result of the Where is George Gibney? podcast, that was done so wonderfully, that justice for everybody is different and that they would like to see him convicted," she said. 

The writer and blogger said it is important though for people to know that the narrative around abuse and its recovery is not always hopeless. Ms Kearney said that many people "are working fierce hard to recover" and that she wants them to know there is hope out there for a happier future.  

"I'm absolutely well past it now, I'm well through to the other side. But what I think is very important to know is that the narrative around abuse is quite hopeless, the recovery and there are lots of people travelling that road, day in, day out, and they are working fierce hard to recover, 

"And I would just like to say, I can only speak for myself, but I live a life filled with love, laughter and I would somebody to know out there that there is hope, and everybody can hope for a different thing. 

"You can just hope that tomorrow is better than today or you can hope for a future that will be brighter because if you are hurting and you need to tell somebody your secret, you can tell your secret and you can feel better with support," she said. 

Ms Kearney was a contributor to the popular BBC and Second Captain's podcast 'series Where is George Gibney? and is the author of a memoir published just this week. 

A powerful tale of recovery from abuse,  Above Water tells the story of Trish Kearney's  survival from her repressed memories of the most difficult part of her life and events set in motion by George Gibney's exposure in the courts and press as a paedophile. 

• Pieta House: 1800 247247; Samaritans: 116 123 or text 087 2609090; 
• Dublin Rape Crisis Centre: National 24-Hour Helpline: 1800 77 8888 or [e-mail]; Sexual Violence Centre Cork: 1800 496 496 or [e-mail].