Survivor: 'Meaningless' industrial school apology 'too little, too late'

Ray Noctor, the first person to take on the state in relation to child sexual abuse in Industrial schools. Photograph: Patrick Browne

The first man to ever take on the state in the High Court for being sexually abused in an industrial school has said the Government apology by the Taoiseach to survivors is “too little too late.” 

Ray Noctor, aged 66 and from Carlow, suffered years of rape, torture and bestiality from the age of 12 to 16 at the hands of teacher David Murray at St Joseph’s Industrial school in Kilkenny.

He was sent to the homes when he was 12, but was moved to a separate part of the school where Murray raped him for years until he was 16, using animals as part of the sexual violence.

In 1997, Murray was convicted and jailed for 10 years for child sexual abuse.

At the time of Murray's sentencing at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Joseph Mathews said: "Never in the history of childcare in this State has one child-care worker caused so much damage."

In 2005, Mr Noctor sued the Minister for Education, St. Joseph’s Industrial School in Co. Kilkenny, the Minister for Health, and the Southeastern Health Board for the abuse he had suffered in the 1960s.

He was awarded €370,000 in damages and costs at the High Court for gross indecency and assault, but had been advised at the time, to accept the redress package set up for survivors – which he declined.

Earlier, Micheál Martin apologised to survivors of institutional abuse, saying "too many of our children were denied the love, care, and security that should have been theirs".

The apology followed a protest by four survivors outside Leinster House seeking additional supports for survivors of abuse in residential institutions. These included a formal apology, and a confirmation by the justice minister that no survivors have a criminal record just by virtue of having been in an industrial or reformatory school.

Maurice Patton O'Connell, Mary Donovan, Miriam Moriarty Owens, and Mary Dunleavy Greene went without food for more than a month, surviving on coffee and water. The four were in the Dáil gallery for the apology.

However, speaking to the Irish Examiner following the Taoiseach’s apology, Mr Noctor said: “I’ve heard these apologies a million times, it makes no difference to me.

“Firstly, the Taoiseach should not be reading a script; he should know this stuff off the top of his head. He was the junior minister for education when I was being raped and beaten by David Murray in St Joseph's.

"His government was well aware of this stuff, so to tell me now at 66 that the state is sorry; I don’t accept it. The only thing I accept is that we no longer have a criminal history. We were sentenced to these places.

"I’d rather hear 'we are sorry that we covered up the crimes inflicted on you, we are sorry we are responsible for the suffering you endured'. That’s what I want to hear.

“As for the opposition saying they are supporting us, they didn’t speak up at the time either.

“It is easy to say sorry for something from the past – but that wasn’t done properly today. I will never trust the Government or be grateful to them; they defended the case I took against them, and I risked so much by taking it.”