‘It took a while, but we do feel like our voices have been heard’ - Mayo advocate

Mayo woman Ciara Mangan has welcomed the Government's approval of new legislation that will significantly restrict the use of counselling notes in sexual violence trials, with records only permitted as evidence where a judge determines there is a genuine risk of an unfair trial.

The Castlebar advocate has campaigned for this change and was part of an Irish delegation at the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women last June. She used her speech to campaign for a change in the law to ensure that counselling notes would not be used in sexual offence trials.

Ms Mangan was also among a group of survivors to meet with the Minister of Justice in May last year to lobby for a change in the law in this area.

Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan brought the legislation to Cabinet, which will ensure counselling records are only released after a disclosure hearing where a judge decides they contain evidence relevant to legal proceedings.

The move has been welcomed by survivors and advocates, though the legislation stops short of implementing an outright ban on accessing such records. Mr O'Callaghan said the Attorney General has advised that a blanket ban on the disclosure of counselling records is not compatible with the Constitution, arising from any accused person's right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.

Sensitive Balance

"I think that it's a welcome decision to go forward with the way that the Minister has outlined," Ciara Mangan, founder of Beyond Surviving, an organisation supporting survivors of Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence, told The Mayo News.

"There's a sensitive balance. We're all for a fair trial, and without fair trial, there's no such thing as justice. We have to be able to say that we uphold the rights to a fair trial, but also we have to navigate sensitively how this impacts the survivor level as well, in terms of our rights to dignity and privacy."

Ms Mangan, herself a survivor, highlighted how the previous system forced impossible choices. "Survivors were choosing between proceeding with counselling or forfeiting counselling, as you know, a real health care service, and then choosing to go with justice," she said.

"In my own personal capacity, as a survivor myself, I chose to pursue justice, and I stopped my counselling at a time when I really needed it. So, it wasn't working."

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The change comes after sustained advocacy from Beyond Surving and other survivor groups and organisations such as the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, which commissioned extensive legal research into the issue.

"You just have to constantly put pressure on and keep raising the issue over and over again," Ms Mangan said. "It took a while, but we do feel like our voices have been heard."

While welcoming the counselling records reform, Ms Mangan emphasized that broader changes are still needed to make the criminal justice system more victim-centred. She pointed to lengthy delays in the appeals process as a particular concern.

"The delays are just a huge problem, and that is felt through psychological stress, which impacts survivors, not just mentally, emotionally, but also physically," she said. "The whole system just needs to be more victim and survivor centred and trauma informed, not just a tick box exercise."

Beyond Surviving

Ciara Mangan founded Beyond Surviving in 2023. It is Ireland’s first survivor-led charity dedicated to connecting and supporting survivors of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence and abuse. 

Last year, the organisation worked with 172 survivors, predominantly women aged 55 and above. The organisation provides long-term healing services for survivors who have progressed beyond crisis intervention.

Ms Mangan noted that the impact of sexual and domestic violence is lifelong.

“A lot of them would say that they put their trauma on hold. Maybe motherhood came in and distracted them for a number of years, and now, once those children have gone, they soon realise that their trauma has not really gone anywhere, and it's still impacting their lives and still showing up in their life today. They're the survivors that are coming to Beyond Surviving.”

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues discussed in this article, please contact the Rape Crisis Centre’s national 24-hour helpline on 1800 77 88 88, or visit rapecrisishelp.ie.

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