A SCOPING EXERCISE to examine the Michael Shine sex abuse case has officially begun today, after decades of campaigning by victims.
Victim Cianan Murray, who has been calling for a statutory public inquiry since 1994, said that he feels “very positive” for the first time in years.
The Department of Health confirmed the appointment of independent facilitator senior counsel Lorcan Staines and expert advisors Maeve Lewis and Phil Scraton.
The appointments follow the agreement by the Government in November 2025 to “a time-bound scoping exercise” that will take up to 16 weeks.
In a statement issued this afternoon, the Department said: “Mr Staines will fulfil his role as facilitator through direct engagement with victims and survivors of Michael Shine, working alongside their NGO support group, Dignity4Patients.”
“During the process Dignity4Patients will have the support of expert advisors Maeve Lewis, former CEO of One in Four, and Professor Phil Scraton, a specialist in inquests and inquiry models, as well as their solicitor, Diarmuid Brecknell of Phoenix Law.”
“Mr Staines will receive all necessary support to ensure that a victim centred, trauma informed, human rights based approach underpins the scoping exercise and any subsequent statutory processes.”
Lorcan Staines SC was called to the Bar in 2005 and to the Inner Bar in 2018 and has two decades’ experience in criminal, regulatory and administrative law.
Staines is widely recognised for his specialist work with victims and vulnerable witnesses, particularly in sensitive cases involving sexual violence.
The earliest allegations of sexual abuse against Michael Shine relate to the 1960s, while the most recent stem from the 1990s.
More than 400 victims of the disgraced surgeon are advocating for a Commission of Investigation to examine allegations that authorities failed to intervene and stop the abuse.
This afternoon, victim Cianan Murray said: “Victims and survivors are looking forward to engaging constructively with Mr. Staines over the coming 16 weeks.”
Murray, from Duleek, County Meath, was abused by the former surgeon in 1972. He made a statement to gardaí in 1995 but Shine was never charged.
CEO of Dignity4Patients Adrienne Reilly said: “The victims and survivors and SC Lorcan Staines will be supported throughout the process by expert advisors Maeve Lewis and Phil Scraton.”
“Their collective expertise with victims of sexual violence and in shaping effective public inquiry models will be invaluable.”
Reilly described today’s announcement as “an important and positive step forward for the victims who have shown immense courage in launching a public campaign to seek truth, acknowledgment and accountability”.
Michael Shine was a surgeon at the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Louth, from the 1960s to the 1990s. At the time the hospital was run by the Medical Missionaries of Mary.
In spite of almost 400 men making allegations against Shine, only nine of these men have seen successful prosecutions in the criminal courts.
In November 2017, guilty verdicts for Shine on three counts of assaulting two teenage patients on dates between 1974 and 1976 were handed down by a jury. However, he was granted bail pending an appeal against the conviction.
Shine was eventually jailed for four years in 2019 following a separate case for abusing seven boys in his care over a period of three decades and was released in February 2022. He now lives in Dublin.
In July last year Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill pledged that the state would deliver “an appropriate and bespoke response” to address the issues raised around his abuse.
In an interview with The Journal in May 2025, Shine denied any wrongdoing and showed no remorse.
