Deshocks
Share
Opinion Editor and Podcaster, Irish Examiner Journalist
11/08/2026
The case of a 15-year-old girl r***d by 18-year-old Patrick Faulkner at a Limerick birthday party caused outrage last week after defence counsel questioned the victim's clothing choices in court.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, representatives from women's rights groups called for guidelines to be introduced in relation to “victim blaming” in r**e and sexual assault cases.
This is not the first time this issue has arisen. In 2018, protests erupted after a Cork defence barrister held up the complainant's underwear in court. The campaign was reported internationally, but no legal change ensued.
Reporter Ann Murphy has been covering the response to this case and she joins today's episode of the Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast to discuss victim blaming, sexual assault cases and the various campaigns underway to make court proceedings less traumatic for victims.
Ann has also been writing about the lack of a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in Limerick city – another difficulty facing complainants there.
Listen here: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-41894392.html
Cindi Bonny is the author of the article that dominated Wednesday's Irish Examiner front page, an extraordinary piece of writing about her experiences at Bessborough Mother and Baby Home.
Cindi's second child, Zoei, was the last child recorded as dying in the care of Bessborough, in 1994.
In Wednesday's paper, she put on record her anguish and her plea to the authorities to fully investigate the burial places of so many lost babies and their mothers who preceded her as residents of Bessborough.
On today's podcast, she discusses it.
🎧 To listen to her story, find the Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast wherever you get your podcast
Content warning: This video contains discussions of su***de and details some readers may find distressing
Nancy and Mark Reilly had a charmed life together. Irish-American retirees based in Kinsale, their 36 year marriage saw them travel the world teaching English and getting involved in community projects in their adopted home.
That idyllic life together came to a sudden, tragic end, when Mark Reilly died by su***de while in isolation at Cork University Hospital on 19 March 2022. He had
been brought to Bandon Garda station after a su***de attempt four days prior, in the midst of what Nancy believes was a psychotic episode. He had no history of
mental health difficulties before that.
Ms Reilly is deeply critical of the systems failures that led to Mark's death.
🎧 To listen to her story, click the link in the comments or find the Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
07/08/2026
Letters to the Editor: We fought Church, State, and my own mother to keep our son. We won A reader tells how she was forced into Bessborough mother and baby home in 1984, and how she and 'the love of her life' battled to keep their son, and went on to build their family together
07/08/2026
“There were going to be no psychiatrists on duty all weekend because it was St. Patrick's Day.
“Now, right there that raises a question. You don't wait to have a heart attack. There would be a cardiologist available if you had a heart attack on St. Patrick's Day.
"Why was there not a psychiatrist on duty?"
The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast: Nancy Reilly on her husband Mark's tragic death by su***de at CUH, and HSE apology Nancy Reilly is deeply critical of the systems failures that led to Mark's death, identifying a number of issues including the lack of a consultant psychiatrist on duty during St Patrick's weekend
04/08/2026
Absolutely speechless at the courage of this beautiful lady who came in today to record for Friday’s episode. Nancy’s husband Mark died by su***de at CUH in 2022 and she came in to tell me all about what happened so that it doesn’t happen to any other families. Her dignity, courage and positivity are something to behold. This episode will drop on Friday.
31/07/2026
"They put the pressure on while I was pregnant."
"But after, it was like, he'd be better off without you, and he deserves better. He'd end up with some lovely family that could bring him up and look after him and he could become a doctor one day.
"... I was constantly told that a mother like me, a person like me, shouldn't have a child. Because at the time I would have had Indian ink up my arms and stuff like that."
Cindi Bonny was just sixteen but she had already experienced homelessness, drug addiction and an abusive relationship when she first entered Bessborough in 1993, pregnant with her son Kevin.
Adamant that she wouldn't give him up for adoption, determined to breastfeed her baby, she was kept from him for six weeks as the pressure mounted to give him up.
Eventually she left with Kevin and returned to her abusive boyfriend – only to fall pregnant a second time, returning to Bessborough in 1994.
Her second stay was different, but ended in tragedy with the sudden, shocking death of baby Zoei at just two days old.
Zoei was the last baby to die under the care of Bessborough. Unlike so many others before her, she has a grave her family can visit.
Cindi shared her story in the Irish Examiner earlier this week in an impassioned plea to authorities for a full investigation of burials at Bessborough, and for a memorial there instead of the planned apartments.
Cindi is today's guest on The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast - find it on www.irishexaminer.com/podcasts/podcast-dos or by searching Apple or Spotify
29/07/2026
Bessborough survivor Cindi Bonny says her daughter was the last baby to die in the care of Bessborough and urges the Government to halt redevelopment
'Do not bury our history beneath concrete', mother of last baby to die at Bessborough tells Government Bessborough survivor Cindi Bonny says her daughter was the last baby to die at the Cork institution and urges the Government to halt redevelopment
What goes on in family courts is a mystery to most people – unless you've been there.
The in-camera rule means there is very limited reporting of family law cases, with nobody ever identified.
But the campaign argues that this rule can protect abusers – while the courts are being weaponised by the same abusive spouses that victims are trying to escape from.
Lisa Ann Wilkinson is a barrister specialising in family law, a board member of .survivors and one of the women behind .
She has represented women who were imprisoned for refusing to allow their abusive ex-partners access to their children.
"I probably know about five or six women who were imprisoned when their children were resisting access with somebody who had either safety orders against them, breaches of safety orders, or convictions for domestic violence. They are still forced on access," she said.
"I know one mother whose ex is in prison for assault and coercive control and [she] still has to bring the children in to visit them. And that woman can't talk about it, you know, they can't speak to it," she said.
"And I now know of six or seven 18 plus year olds who were subject to these types of access orders who are now incredibly damaged... some of them are profoundly damaged by being forced into contact and the state's going to have a huge, huge problem on its hand with these now aged-out adults actually expressing the fact that the court process of forced access has caused them damage."
Listen to today's episode at the link in bio or search The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast wherever you get your podcasts 🎧
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Category
Contact the public figure
Website
Address
Irish Examiner, Linn Dubh, Assumption Road, Blackpool
Cork