A new support group is to be set up for victims of child sex abuse across Co Donegal.
The group, EMBRACE, will be officially launched this Thursday evening at the Loch Altan Hotel in Gortahork.
With more than 20 known victims of child sex abuse in the Gortahork area, the move to set up a support group has been widely welcomed.
The meeting will be addressed by former Garda Detective Martin Ridge.
It was Ridge’s book, Breaking The Silence (Gill and MacMillan), which lifted the lid on the issue of child sex abuse across Co Donegal.
He will talk about his investigation into the child sex abuse cases and his experience as a first-time author and writer working with a major international publisher.
The hugely-respected former Garda Detective said he will be there to help victims realise there is support for them to help them to move on with their lives.
“My book is only a base or part thereof, not alone of the horrendous horror, but the great difficulty survivors of abuse had coming forward and how they were treated by society then and subsequently,” Ridge said.
“I will not there on Thursday to give a speech nor indeed to contain my anger but when people who purport to stand for truth, hide the truth, something needs to be done. How otherwise can there be justice, for justice without truth is impossible.
“To move on from any situation one has to know what one is moving on from, our past cannot hold us hostage forever. The purpose of this meeting I understand is for people and the community is to reclaim their own territory and live as peacefully as possible with each other.”
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