People from Britain and Northern Ireland as well as the Republic have contacted the month-old helpline for adults abused as children by members of religious orders.
But the co-ordinator of the helpline, funded by the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI), would not say how many calls it had received since it started almost a month ago. Ms Dorrie Mitchell said that to say how many calls there had been would raise fears about confidentiality.
The helpline is available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is staffed by professional telephone counsellors, she said. The freephone telephone numbers of the service are 1800 331234 from the Republic and 0800973272 from Northern Ireland and Britain.