‘duty of care’ | 

Councillor who was sexually harassed says she has spent €20k on legal and medical bills

In a letter to the newly appointed Minister for Local Government, Alan Dillon, Cllr Donnelly has outlined how female politicians are being failed by the government.

Neil Fetherstonhaugh

Today at 11:11

A Dublin councillor who has spoken out about how she was sexually harassed at a political event several years ago is pleading with new Minister for Local Government, Alan Dillon TD to act urgently on her concerns.

Independent Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Councillor Deirdre Donnelly, who previously revealed how she had been assaulted by a public representative, highlighted her concerns with then minister Simon Harris last year.

In a letter to the newly appointed Minister for Local Government, Alan Dillon, Cllr Donnelly has outlined how female politicians are being failed by the government.

Cllr Donnelly, who had also received a series of online pornographic messages and film clips following the assault, is calling on the Minister Dillon to compel political parties to introduce a code of conduct for their members.

“Gender quotas have been introduced in an effort to encourage more women into political life,” Cllr Donnelly said.

“I believe that the same economic incentives should be applied regarding code of conduct of members. There are certain ethics that need to be followed in relation to political donations and other matters and SIPO (Standards In Public Office ) exists to ensure that it happens, but it appears that sexual misconduct is ignored completely.”

Another issue of concern for Cllr Donnelly is that of duty of care towards elected representatives, similar to that of council employees.

“Recent legislation was introduced to provide councillors with maternity leave,” she pointed out, so surely duty of care towards councillors can also be considered?”

Cllr Donnelly revealed how her experience has cost her almost €20,000 in legal and medical bills so far, while she was forced to upgrade security and install CCTV in her home.

She also feels that as independent candidates must provide their home address on all election material and on the ballot paper at election time this makes it is a lot more difficult for them.

“The focus so far has been on encouraging women to run for political office but as I’ve discovered there is no support once you’re elected,” she stated. “I am appealing to Minister Dillon to address this urgently.”

She was shocked at the lack of privacy in the garda station when she first complained, as well as the garda’s refusal despite numerous requests to provide her with a copy of her statement.

Her biggest concerns, however, related to the use of a victim’s counselling records in a trial to aid the defence and delays in getting a decision from the DPP on whether a trial will go ahead or not.

“These matters can cause an already traumatised victim a huge amount of stress”, Cllr Donnelly said at the time, as she recalled a wait of almost two years before the DPP finally decided not to prosecute.

“It is difficult to undergo counselling and try to move on when you do not know if a trial is going ahead or not,” she added. “This is before we even take the delay in getting to court into account.”

“Is there a constitutional right to privacy,” she asked. “Why is it that a victim of rape or sexual assault can have their privacy violated in such a manner but the offender on release into the community has a right to privacy regarding his address?”

During the meeting with Minister Harris, she also highlighted the need for the availability of legal advice from the outset as well as other essential supports.