Áras hopeful Jim Gavin did not know about abuse of female officers in Defence Forces

Jim Gavin said nobody who suffered abuse when he served in the Air Corps had asked him to advocate on their behalf. Picture: Leah Farrell /  RollingNews.ie

Presidential hopeful Jim Gavin has said he would have acted immediately on any allegation of a soldier being mistreated or abused, if anybody had told him.

In Dublin on Thursday, he told reporters he did not “see” anybody suffering abuse and, when asked by the Irish Examiner if he was "aware" of the abuse, he said: "If I was aware, I would have taken immediate action.” He also said nobody who suffered abuse when he served in the Air Corps had asked him to advocate on their behalf.

“Since I got involved in this election process, I’ve been asked about the Women of Honour,” he told the Irish Examiner after canvassing for support at the Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre.

“I have said that they have done the State some service and I am glad that the [Defence Forces] tribunal has been set up. I only became aware of the Women of Honour cause after the [2021 RTÉ documentary].

“I was well retired at that stage.” He said he did "hear of, in other areas of the Defence Forces, disciplinary action was taken against people".

Karina Molloy, whose biography a Woman in Defence detailed the abuse she endured during her 31-year career, said four of the original Women of Honour, and who were also officers, served in the Air Corps.

“It beggars belief that an officer would never have been aware that fellow female officers were being harassed and abused,” she said.

Three of them served in Mr Gavin’s time in the Air Corps and the abuse they endured was widely known.

Army whistleblower Alan Nolan, who is press officer for the Defence Forces Justice Alliance, said: “It is surprising that a man who could one day be the Defence Forces supreme commander in chief knew nothing about people being abused and mistreated in the Defence Forces until it came up on the television in 2021.

“Apart from the fact that a major report into the sexual harassment and abuse of female soldiers by Senator Tom Clonan was widely publicised in 2001, there were also major anti-bullying campaigns in the army from 2002.

“It is hard to understand how an officer in charge of men and women could not have been aware that some under his command or the command of other officers in the Air Corps or elsewhere in the Defence Forces were being abused or mistreated. It’s very puzzling.”