Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin told the Dáil he understands there are as many as 28 victims of abuse by members of the Provisional IRA discussing how to have the truth of what happened to them acknowledged.
“Many more remain scared of the power and reach of a movement which retains iron discipline,’’ he added.
“As with abuse in other areas, it is also increasingly clear that there was enough information, over the course of many years, for this abuse to at least be acknowledged.’’
Mr Martin was speaking during a Dáil debate on claims by Belfast woman Maíria Cahill that she was raped by an IRA member in 1997 when she was 16 and subsequently had to face an IRA "kangaroo court". Further allegations have emerged since that the republican movement facilitated the movement of child abusers from Northern Ireland to the Republic rather than report the crimes to the police.
Mr Martin called for the setting up of an independent North/South inquiry on abuse within the Provisional republican movement.
“This abuse was covered up within the movement and continues to be covered up to this day,’’ he added.
“There are legitimate concerns about the handling of cases and this issue needs to be addressed and we all have to agree that people should not be helped to avoid responsibility in this type of barbaric behaviour.’’
He said Maíria Cahill was brave to an extent which put to shame those who had sought to deny her justice and undermine her claims.
“As a 16-year-old, she was repeatedly raped in 1997 and 1998, a period which spans the negotiation, ratification and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement,’’ he added.
“This was not the distant 1970s, when gunfights were happening on the streets; the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin had, publicly at least, signed up to a permanent peace.’’
Mr Martin said he had met another victim last week. “He told me a very harrowing tale of what happened to him and his brother,’’ he added. “I have confirmed with him that all information he has given to me has also been provided to the gardaí.’’
As a teenager, said Mr Martin, the man was raped by a member of the Provisional IRA who was using his family's home as a safe house. "The Provisional IRA member's use of the house was facilitated by a person who has been a Sinn Féin elected representative in Louth for over a decade,'' he added.
