Latest news with #Rathfarnham
Times
20-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Digital streams won't kill the radio star, says Nova supremo
In January 1988, Kevin Branigan and Mike Ormonde, two 15-year-old budding entrepreneurs, appeared in an interview in the Sunday World newspaper. The Dubliners had set up an 'illegal' radio station, Signal FM, in the shed of Ormonde's family home in Rathfarnham and reckoned they were Ireland's youngest owners of a pirate station. The article, complete with photos of Ormonde 'at the controls' and Branigan 'cueing up a record', recorded how the pair spent IR£600 of their pocket money on the venture. They had '100 per cent backing' from their parents, who knew the boys wanted to work full-time in radio and saw it as an education. 'We were both obsessed with radio and had met as 12-year-olds cycling over to see the original Nova in Rathfarnham. It was an enormous, professional operation despite being a pirate radio station,' Branigan says. Nearly four decades on, he and Ormonde own the entirely legit Radio Nova, Classic Hits Radio and Sunshine 106.8 and are fully paid-up members of the licensed independent radio sector. Last month Bay Broadcasting, their company, announced the seven-figure acquisition of Galway Bay FM from the Connacht Tribune Group. Galway's most popular radio station, with a market share of 34 per cent — higher than RTE Radio 1 and Today FM — will add 132,000 weekly listeners to the Bay Broadcasting audience. Branigan says the acquisition makes Bay the second-largest independent radio group in the country, behind only the German-owned Bauer Media Audio Ireland. 'The acquisition propels us into a different league in that it moves us into the status where we become something of a radio group,' Branigan says. 'When you add the listenership of all of our radio stations together, it brings us up to 810,000 a week, which we believe is a really healthy number.' While Ormonde is still a director and shareholder, Branigan heads up Bay Broadcasting, which includes Classic Hits Radio, Ireland's only multi-city radio station, which is broadcast to eight counties including Dublin, the commuter counties, and Cork, Limerick and Galway; and Radio Nova, which has a licence for the Dublin region. The company owns a 46 per cent share of Sunshine, an easy-listening radio station available across Leinster, which is run by Seán Ashmore, a one-time DJ on Signal FM. All three radio stations are operated from Castleforbes House in Dublin's north docklands, which is also home to the offices of the Pearl & Dean and Adtower businesses owned by Ormonde's investment company Step Investments. The Galway Bay FM acquisition will result in the headcount across the various radio stations rising from about 60 to 85. Bay Broadcasting does not release consolidated accounts for its various businesses but Branigan says the group is profitable. He expects turnover to hit €11 million this year, rising to about €15 million in 2026, driven by both growth across the group and the acquisition of the Galway station. Branigan has long pitched Bay Broadcasting as the plucky David to the powerful Goliath of media conglomerates such as Bauer, owner of Today FM and Newstalk, and Onic, owner of Q102, FM104 and Cork's 96FM. • Who's behind the local media land grab in Ireland? The privately owned Bauer operates in 14 countries and has €2.2 billion in annual revenues. Onic is part of the international media group News Corp, which last year had revenues of more than $10 billion and counts The Sunday Times, New York Post, Dow Jones and TalkRadio in its stable. Branigan is never one to shy away from fighting his corner. Last month Bay Broadcasting secured a temporary injunction against Bauer, preventing it from launching the brand Greatest Hits Radio on the digital platform DAB+ in the Republic of Ireland. Bay has argued that the name was too close to its Classic Hits Radio and initiated the proceedings after discussions with Bauer came to an impasse. Bauer temporarily changed the brand to GHR. The parties are due back in court on Tuesday. Classic Hits is a client of Media Central, Bauer's media sales house, which provides advertising solutions to media agencies. Bay also takes news content from Bauer. 'It is undoubtedly going to have an impact on all of the commercial areas that we deal with Bauer in. I don't think they've thought it through and that's a shame. They should have more respect for us,' he says. Branigan revels in his role as an industry firebrand. Last year, in response to the government committing itself to a three-year funding model for RTE, he told The Irish Sun: 'It doesn't surprise me at all because the government always rolls over when it comes to RTE.' He would like to see a 'more transparent' state-owned broadcaster. 'Nothing has changed since the Oireachtas committee meetings,' he says. Last summer he also wrote a letter to Kevin Bakhurst, director-general of RTE, and Catherine Martin, then minister for arts, offering to buy 2fm for €10 million. He was told the national pop music station was not for sale. • RTE's real-life drama creates problems for Kevin Bakhurst Branigan insists the offer was not a publicity stunt. 'It was a genuine attempt to buy it. It doesn't seem to be performing very well but we felt it could be turned around and that it would be a big opportunity for us to get bigger. It would have put us into a completely different league, having a national station.' National exposure is a core ambition. Branigan has repeatedly applied to extend Nova's licence across the country. 'Once every three years there is an opportunity to suggest that your licence area be extended. I've tried many times but I haven't managed to convince them [Coimisiun na Mean and its predecessors] yet.' He is as obsessed with radio now as he was as a child being raised with his two siblings in Stillorgan, the son of a school teacher, Ciarán, who taught at St Mary's College in Rathmines, which Branigan attended. 'All I wanted to be since the age of ten was to be in radio. I just love radio,' he says. Leaving school, he convinced his education-focused parents that a law or engineering career was not for him and they allowed him to do a communications degree at Dublin City University. After graduating in 1993 he got a job at Reelgood Studios, a production house. Outside the day job he had not given up on pirate radio. He and Ormonde set up Kiss 103 FM. At that stage the vast majority of pirate stations had closed following the introduction of the 1988 Radio and Television Act and the imposition of heavy fines on advertisers that patronised the pirates. Kiss ran for eight months, was raided three times and had its signal jammed on multiple occasions. 'The gardai would come in and raid us, take all our equipment and within a few hours we would be back up and running again,' Branigan says. 'I'd never condone illegality now but pirate stations are where a lot of people got their start. So many great broadcasting talents that are around today, such as Brian Dobson and Colm Hayes, began in pirate radio.' Branigan became a producer at East Coast Radio before being appointed head of production at Dublin's FM104. In 2000 he diverted his attention away from radio when he set up a website that lists adult education courses, and a jobs search engine. The company behind both sites, Jazbury, is still operational, employs six people and had a small profit of just over €16,000 in 2023. Through Bay Broadcasting, Ormonde and Branigan joined a consortium including Thomas Crosbie Holdings, The Irish Times, the radio executive Dermot Hanrahan and the businessman Ulick McEvaddy to apply for a licence for 4FM, a radio station targeted at the over-45s. The station launched in February 2009 in the midst of the recession and with an investment of €1 million. Losses quickly racked up and it struggled to gain audience share. 'There was a tense board meeting and the majority of the shareholders wanted to hand the licence back and close the station down,' Branigan says. 'We brokered a deal that we would take over all the debts if they gave us all their shares.' In 2011 the station rebranded from the 'stodgy' 4FM to Classic Hits Radio. It has grown its market share to 3 per cent. 'We had some really very difficult years but we finally began to come out the other side at the end of the last decade, in 2019,' Branigan says. Radio Nova was launched in 2010 with the backing of Hanrahan's Vienna Investments, Des Whelan, founder of WLR FM, and the late tech tycoon Pat McDonagh. Bay bought the shareholders out in 2017. In the meantime, the company had bought into Sunshine in 2013 when Seán Ashmore was rebranding the station from Country FM. There was an element of faking it till it made it when it came to promoting Nova. Latest JNLR (Joint National Listenership Research) figures show the station has a 9.4 per cent market share among adults in Dublin from 7am until 7pm. Sunshine has a share of 8.9 per cent. 'From the moment that Nova came on air we always tried to project that we were bigger than we actually were. We presented ourselves as being the underdog who was trying to fight the big guys, the likes of the FM104s and the 98s. We just got bigger to the point that we finally did become No 1 two and a half years ago,' Branigan says. He bristles at the idea that radio is a sunset industry as intimated in a recent trade publication by Al Dunne, a former shareholder in 4FM and co-founder of Q102 — 'a cheap potshot from somebody who isn't involved in the industry any more'. 'People have been [heralding the demise] of radio for years. Remember the 1980s hit song Video Killed the Radio Star? Yet radio carries on as a really strong medium. The independent sector employs 1,500 people in Ireland,' he adds. Branigan points to the entry of Bauer into the Irish market in 2021 when it paid €100 million for Denis O'Brien's Communicorp and its subsequent local radio acquisitions. 'Why would Bauer be buying radio stations if they thought radio was going to die?' As reported in The Sunday Times, DMG Media Ireland is in talks to enter the market with the purchase of WLR FM from The Irish Times group. 'There is a great future in radio. For me the pandemic was a defining moment. It showed once again, as radio has done many times, that it is such an important medium and that it isn't a medium that's going to fall out of fashion,' Branigan says. He said the number of people listening to Bay's radio stations online had grown significantly in recent years. Radio shows are turned into podcasts, allowing listeners to tune in at their convenience. 'Our ambition would be to expand further. We don't have any specific plans or any discussions going on … but we believe that there are big opportunities. Radio is a really strong medium and it will continue to surprise people.' Age: 53Lives: Leopardstown, DublinFamily: single; father of four sons — Alexy, 14, Ciarán, two, and twins Jack and Kevin, one — and a stepdaughter, Katie, 23Education: communications degree from Dublin City UniversityFavourite book: Jack Reacher series by Lee ChildFavourite film: I love any of the Star Trek films, and the TV shows too Working day: I generally get up at 6.45am and spend about 45 minutes with the kids and start working at 7.30am. I take Ciarán to the creche at about 9am and then go into the office. I spend my day having lots of meetings. I have a really good management team, with a can-do attitude. I come home at about 4.30pm or 5pm and then catch up at nighttime. Downtime: I spend time with the kids, and I like to go on walks.
Irish Times
19-07-2025
- Irish Times
Behind the ‘perfect family': How ‘great fear' stopped Dublin sisters revealing abuse by brothers
To the outside world, they must have looked like 'the perfect family', says Paula Fay, who grew up as Paula Brennan in Rathfarnham , south Dublin. 'We would have been regarded as fairly affluent; we went to Mass every Sunday as a family, all dressed to the nines,' she recalls. 'My mother would say to us: 'Anything that goes on in this house is to stay within the four walls of this house' and 'woe betide anyone who tells'.' Behind closed doors, the Brennans' family life was very far from perfect. READ MORE When then 12-year-old Catherine Brennan, now Catherine Wrightstone, disclosed in 1984 she was being sexually abused by her older brother Richard, her parents reacted with disbelief. Her mother called her 'a liar' and 'a dirty b***h' who was 'ruining' her brother's reputation, Catherine says. Richard Brennan who was sentenced to eight and a half years at the Criminal Courts of Justice last Monday for the rape of his sisters. Photograph: Collins Courts Her older sisters, Paula and Yvonne – now Yvonne Crist – then in their 20s, immediately believed her. They too were sexually abused by Richard and by their oldest sibling, Bernard, but they did not disclose that abuse until years later because of what Fay calls a 'massive fear'. 'We knew our mother would not believe us, she doted on Richard, especially when he wanted to be a priest,' Yvonne says. 'We went to Mass, the fear of God was always put in us.' It was a typically big Irish family of the time, with seven children and 17 years between the oldest and youngest children: Bernard, who was born in 1957; Yvonne (born 1959), Richard (1961), Paula (1964), Eamonn (1965), Catherine (1971) and Sinéad (1974). Last month Bernard Brennan, now 67, was jailed for 4½ years years after admitting 11 counts of indecent assault of Paula and Yvonne between 1972 and 1975 when all three were minors. His abuse began when he was 13, Yvonne was 12 and Paula was six or seven. [ Three sisters sexually abused by brother 'deeply disappointed' over 'leniency' of eight-year prison term Opens in new window ] On Monday, Richard Brennan, aged 64, was jailed for 8½ years for 24 offences against his sisters Paula, Catherine and Yvonne in the 1970s and 1980s when he was aged between 16 and 24. His abuse of Catherine began on her ninth birthday and continued, escalating to rape, until she was about 13. Catherine Wrightstone - née Brennan - aged nine, the year her older brother Richard started abusing her. His offences against Paula included rape and indecent assault, and occurred when she was between 14 or 15 and 17 years old. He admitted one count of indecent assault on Yvonne when he was 18 and she was 20. The abuse occurred against a difficult family background. Their father Richard Joseph Brennan, built up a successful public hygiene disposal business, but was an alcoholic and sometimes violent to his wife and children. His wife Máire Brennan struggled with serious mental illness and could be both verbally and physically abusive to her children. She spent long periods in mental health units, leading to some of the children being in care for a time. In the wake of the sentences of their two brothers, the three Brennan sisters – Yvonne, Paula and Catherine – talked to The Irish Times about life within the Dublin family home, how the abuse occurred and how the atmosphere in the home offered no protection for the sisters from their abusive brothers. 'It was an atmosphere of great fear, massive fear, across all of us,' Paula says. 'It was always about appeasing them [parents], keeping the peace, as if we were the adults.' Sisters Paula Fay and Catherine Wrightstone, whose brother Richard Brennan (64), previously of Rathfarnham in south Dublin, but who had been living in the United States, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 24 counts against his three sisters. Photograph: Collins Courts The girls were expected to do a lot of housework and Paula looked after her younger sisters, leading to her poor school attendance record. The Brennan family lived fairly comfortably. Encouraged by their parents, several of the children were accomplished singers and Yvonne went on to sing professionally in Ireland and the US. Paula was 'very frightened' of Bernard whom she regarded as an adult. 'He was given so much leeway around being an authoritarian in the house. He would twist a damp tea towel like a piece of rope and whack you if you didn't do what you were told,' she says. She was about six or seven when Bernard, aged about 13 or 14, began sexually abusing her. 'The biggest impact for me was on my education, I was afraid to speak; it became that I could not voice anything,' Paula says. The abuse often happened late at night when Bernard got into her bed or lifted her out of it and abused her in the room he shared with his younger brothers. His abuse of Yvonne began when she was 12 and followed a similar pattern. She believes she was 'groomed', including exposure to a pornographic video, and described Richard watching 'like a voyeur' while Bernard was abusing her. The female members of the Brennan family, back row left to right: Máire (mother), Yvonne and Paula. Front row left to right: Catherine and Sinéad Paula was 'overjoyed' when Bernard married young and left the family home but Richard's 'relentless' abuse of her continued until she was about 17. Catherine decided to tell her best friend Michelle Goggins about the abuse at the hands of Richard after a sex education class in 1984. Goggins encouraged her to report it, saying adults would stop it, and accompanied her to the home of a nurse linked with her school. That evening, the head nun at her school rang her father to inform him of her disclosure and Catherine recalled her parents 'screaming and roaring'. The next day, her mother 'called me every name'. 'She told me I was lying, these things happen in families,' says Catherine. Her parents took no action but family therapy meetings, facilitated by St John of God's, were organised later in 1984 following a referral by Dublin's Meath hospital when it could not diagnose a source of Catherine's lower limb disorder. The meeting notes recorded how her father dismissed Richard's abuse of her as 'just sexual curiosity'. [ Brothers' abuse of sisters was hidden in Dublin family for years Opens in new window ] Their mother ultimately walked out of a meeting, hauling Catherine with her; the rest of the family followed. Her parents discontinued the meetings. The Brennan girls with their parents: Richard (father), Catherine, Máire (mother), Sinéad, Yvonne and Paula Her younger sister Catherine was treated very badly at home afterwards, Paula says. 'I think I took the attitude: 'Oh my God, I don't want to be treated like that.' I really wish I had the courage she had to speak out, but I did not,' says Paula. Yvonne felt 'really sad for Catherine' and said she has a sense of guilt about not speaking up herself but feared 'we would be beaten to within an inch of our lives'. There were some grounds for that. When a 'kind' teacher previously asked her how she got lash marks on her back, arms and legs, she 'stayed very quiet' and did not reveal her mother lashed her with a stick. The teacher gave her a hug but the school took no action. Catherine, now a licensed clinical social worker, said their father had a history of 'overreacting to situations' and she has vivid memories of him inflicting two 'horrendous' beatings on her with his fists, the first when she was just six years of age. 'There was such fear of stepping out of line,' says Catherine. Paula told Catherine in the 1990s she too was abused by Richard but was unable to tell her parents. Yvonne told her sisters of being abused about 2012, when Catherine wrote to the organisers of a youth group in Georgia for whom Richard was working, expressing safeguarding concerns. All three sisters reported their brothers' abuse to the Garda in 2019. Richard, having been ordained a priest in 1989, had moved to the US but left the priesthood in 1992 after meeting his wife Bridget. Richard Brennan on the altar at the Pro Cathedral in Dublin when he was a priest. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Other family members also emigrated to the US, including the parents. The children's father, who had stopped drinking after receiving treatment in Ireland, ran a successful pawnbroking business there. After their parents learned in 2012 that Richard's abuse extended beyond her, her father 'cried on the phone to me, apologising profusely for his inaction' over her 1984 disclosure, Catherine says. As a result, she felt able to care for him up to his death just a year later. Her mother's response was different. After Richard resigned his role with the youth group in Georgia and moved to Montana, claiming Catherine was 'yet again' trying to destroy his life, her mother did not speak to her for months, she says. Later, while her mother would not discuss not believing her in 1984, she was 'gentler and kinder' and 'behaved in a way that suggested she was sorry'. Both parents were wonderful grandparents, she added. It was a 'hard pill to swallow' when, two days before her death in 2014, her mother called Richard and told him: 'Your sisters forgive you.' The Brennan children: Richard, Paula, Yvonne, Bernard and Eamonn. Sisters Paula Fay, Yvonne Crist and Catherine Wrightstone Catherine avoided her brother when he came to the house because their mother wanted to see him before she died. Paula felt able to forgive her father before he died but said she struggles with repressed feelings of anger towards her mother over her reaction to the disclosures of abuse. 'It was about reputation; it was never about us,' she says. A year after their mother's death, the sisters' beloved younger brother Eamonn died by suicide and their sister Sinéad, who suffered health issues over many years, died in 2021. All three are unhappy with the eight-year sentence imposed on Richard and want the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to bring an 'undue leniency' appeal. 'The sentence is an insult – it sends the wrong message to survivors and especially to offenders,' says Catherine. 'It amounts to saying it doesn't matter how many times, or how many people, you rape. It's not good enough. Women's lives matter.'
Irish Times
18-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, July 18th: On GP visit fees, cohousing, and Rosie O'Donnell for president
Sir, –On Tuesday evening I received an email from my GP's office informing that 'effective Tuesday, July 15th, 2025, [their] standard private consultation fee will increase to €90 (from €80, August 2023). This 12.5 per cent 'adjustment' was necessary due to 'rising operational costs' (that vague 'go-to reason' provided for price hikes these days) and more specifically due to 'employing enough doctors to ensure they can continue offering their]same-day appointment service.' I was advised that this 'level of accessibility is exceptionally rare in General Practice, and [they] remain fully committed to maintaining it for [their] patients'. Repeat prescriptions will increase to €30 (from €25 in August 2023, – a 20 per cent increase). READ MORE Is €90 a record for a GP consultation fee? – Yours, etc, NIALL H. DOYLE, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. Could cohousing be a solution? Sir, –With Ireland in the midst of a severe housing shortage, the Government must be bold and brave and embrace creative solutions. One that deserves serious consideration is cohousing, an innovative, community-led model that is flourishing in countries such as the UK, US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada. In Denmark, the government and financial institutions are supporting the concept with favourable zoning laws and financing options. The result is that over the next five years 80,000 of the country's over 50s are planning to move into a cohousing community. Cohousing is designed for people aged 50 and over who are healthy and active, offering the opportunity to 'right-size' into well-designed, sustainable homes with shared facilities for socialising and enjoying life to the full. It differs significantly from nursing homes or supported housing as they are self-managed communities, typically for a younger cohort who are looking for a more suitable option within their own area. This model helps to combat social isolation and enable older people to age well, possibly postponing or avoiding the need for institutional care. An added benefit is that it can free up underused housing stock for younger families. Cohousing is also cost-effective with shared amenities and collaborative management reducing expenses, while smaller, eco-friendly homes will be better for the environment. The need for cohousing in Ireland is urgent. Research shows that many over 50s currently live in homes that are too large or no longer meet their needs. According to the ESRI, more than 1.18 million people in Ireland are aged between 50 and 75, and 67 per cent of Irish homes are under-occupied, double the EU average. Cohousing Ireland is a new, not-for-profit initiative with more than 150 members and groups forming in Dublin, Cork, and elsewhere. We see three major barriers standing in the way of cohousing gaining traction in Ireland. First, access to suitable sites is a major hurdle, with vast tracts of land held by the State, religious institutions, and local authorities. Second, planning laws don't recognise cohousing as a distinct housing category like student accommodation. It needs to be properly zoned and supported in development plans. Third, most prospective cohousing residents are mortgage-free. They need access to bridging finance that would allow them to move without first selling their homes. A State-backed revolving loan fund, successfully used in Denmark and the Netherlands, would make a significant difference. Cohousing is about more than housing. It's about dignity, sustainability, and community. With targeted policy support and political will, it can become a vital part of Ireland's housing future. Yours, etc, ANNE CONNOLLY, Cohousing Communities Ireland, Dublin 6. Sir – I am reading with dismay the ongoing debate about reducing the minimum required apartment sizes in new developments. Once again, the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael Government shows that they are only capable of doing things that give the impression of taking action while refusing to do anything that will actually improve the housing situation. We should be encouraging more to live in apartments in this country, as is the norm in many other European countries, and not penalise those that do so with fewer windows and less square footage. Why is there no consideration being given to reduce the requirement for apartments to come with a ratio of car parking spaces? By eliminating parking requirements, the developers will save far more in construction costs by not having to excavate underground and it will encourage more to live a car-free existence which has been shown to increase personal health and happiness, reduce costs on the health service and promote community cohesion. – Yours, etc, DR JOHN LEGGE, Sandycove, Co Dublin. Rosie O'Donnell for president Sir, – With virtually no locals interested in the job, why not pick Rosie O' Donnell for the Áras ? She is about to get Irish citizenship, has lived north and south of the Border and has the extraordinary ability to attract the attention of US pressident Donald Trump for her every utterance. President Michael D Higgins seemingly cannot get an audience with Trump, but Rosie knows him intimately for over 30 years and he is highly responsive to her comments. Such a move would really put Ireland on the map. – Yours, etc, BRIAN O REILLY, Northport, New York Alan Shatter and that Bill Sir, –I would very respectfully suggest that former justice minister Alan Shatter who told the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee that the Occupied Territories Bill was 'anti-Semitic' and 'reminiscent of policies of 1930s Germany' reflect on the words of Auschwitz survivor and writer Primo Levi: 'The plague has died away, but the infection still lingers, and it would be foolish to deny it. Rejection of human solidarity, obtuse and cynical indifference to the suffering of others, abdication of the intellect and of moral sense to the principle of authority, and above all, at the root of everything, a sweeping tide of cowardice, a colossal cowardice which masks itself as warring virtue, love of country and faith in an idea.' It would appears that the legacy of Primo Levi and the great Jewish authors who wrote about their direct experience of the Holocaust and who warned us about the future has been ignored or forgotten – tragically, by Israel. – Yours, etc, CHRIS FITZPATRICK, Terenure, Dublin 6 Sir, – Alan Shatter claims that the proposed ban on trade with occupied Palestinian territories is a boycott Jews Bill reminiscent of 1930s Germany, I presume the bombing and killing of 50,000-plus people, including women and children, by Israel is acceptable to him? – Yours, etc, DAVID MURNANE, Co Meath. Sir, – I would like to commend the wonderful contribution of former minister for justice, Alan Shatter, to Tuesday's parliamentary committee debate on the Occupied Territories Bill. Despite facing a hostile reception, he masterfully articulated the innate flaws of this farcical piece of legislation. He truly represents, among the Irish political class, a voice of sanity in the wilderness of groupthink on this matter. This is one of the first instances in recent times that Ireland's long established Jewish minority community have been given a public forum to put forward their viewpoint. Given recent history, the Irish media and political establishment has been too quick to discount their fears of legalisation effectively boycotting their co-religious. I echo Mr Shatter's view that staying on this course will only harm and hinder Ireland's economy while doing nothing to solve the ongoing conflict. The legal minefield that this opens up for US multinationals has not been properly explored and given the choppy international economic waters, we should exercise caution and shelve this Bill. Conflicts are solved by dialogue and not virtue signalling boycotts which only target one side of a conflict. As a neutral country we should act like one and do our best to bring both sides together, sharing Ireland's own experience of successful long term conflict resolution. It is Ireland's loss that Mr Shatter is no longer a member of the Oireachtas and I do hope this is remedied at the next election. – Yours, etc, ENDA KELLY, Palmerstown, Dublin. Sir, – I read that the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee has asked Ireland to 'sober up', after having 'fallen into a vat of Guinness'. Really? Quite apart from those insulting remarks from a man whose ultimate boss is considerably less than diplomatic; quite apart from the behaviour towards Ireland of the country he is accredited to as ambassador; quite apart from that country's murderous attack on defenceless Gazans, amounting to genocide; quite apart from the slaughter of children, their mothers and fathers by arms supplied by Mr Huckabee's government, I suggest that my Government has acted with utmost sobriety in their actions and words, especially regarding the Occupied Territories Bill. Quite apart from the Bill's progress through the Oireachtas, I believe we, as citizens of a sovereign country, should take our own individual action. If we all, as individuals, take action by refusing to buy any Israeli product, service or financial offering, we act in a moral way by thinking globally and acting locally. Our actions may not have a large initial result, but morally we must be seen to state our national belief and revulsion at the actions of the Tel Aviv government. We can boycott Israeli bonds and financial instruments; Israeli tourism and the airline El Al; Israeli agricultural products such as avocados and oranges, industrial products such as engineered valves and others, and defence and IT products, which I hope my Government is already absolutely refusing to procure. I remind Mr Huckabee that the days of small civilised countries being easily silenced by large ones is over. Ireland, with our first class international diplomatic reputation, can and will speak out against the savagery inflicted against the people of Gaza. I ask my fellow citizens to permanently boycott Israeli products to show our support for our Government and the people of Gaza. – Yours, etc, PAT O'CONNOR, Greenlake, Co Wexford. Palestine GAA and visas refusal Sir, – How Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, and those officials in the Department of Justice, who refused the children of Palestine GAA visas to visit the home of Gaelic games can sleep at night is beyond me. I just hope their children are never faced with such devastating disappointment. It's not just shameful, but despicable. I hope GAA clubs in every constituency make their TDs aware of their disgust, particularly those that are members of the Coalition parties. – Yours, etc, DANNY BOYD, Belfast. Summer camp in Co Down Sir, – The news that a children's summer camp in Co Down has been cancelled, because of protests by a local Orange Order over the attendance there by some children from a GAA club, gives me yet another reason why I will not support the idea of a United Ireland. We already have enough bigots of our own here. – Yours, etc GERARD CLARKE, Dundrum, Dublin. Pearse Doherty's faux pas Sir, – If the Sinn Féin finance spokesman, Pearse Doherty, doesn't know that Musgraves own SuperValu – something that would have been taught to secondary level students of business – how then could we trust them when it comes to the economy? – Yours, etc, RORY J. WHELAN, Co Meath. Write and wrong Sir, – A recent flurry of letters complaining of non-publication of letters set methinking. I would have regarded myself as a regular contributor, with a fairly good (?) success rate. I felt that my comments and observations on many topics raised smiles, if not eyebrows. This stopped when my letters and observations criticised Israel. Not the Jewish people, just Israel. It then became, it seemed, impossible to have anything published in the letters page. Makes me think that that I have been sent to the naughty step, but probably more like my letters weren't as something as others. If I knew what that something was, I could possibly do something about it. Twenty-five years writing to a friend and then being cut off hurts. I live in hope of a reconciliation. Or a sharper wit! – Yours, etc, PAT QUINN, Dublin 8. Meeting House in Temple Bar Sir, – May I correct Helen Baily (Letters, July 16th)? The Meeting House in Eustace Street was exactly as Frank McDonald described in article on leaving Temple Bar. As the author of Dictionary of Dublin Dissent– Dublin's Protestant Dissenting Meeting Houses 1660-1920, I can assure her that the building now known as The Ark was opened in 1727 by the Unitarian-Presbyterian congregation, which until then had worshipped in nearby New Row. The Quaker Meeting House Helen Baily refers to is two doors to the left and is now the Irish Film Centre. It was the fact of there having been two Meeting Houses in close proximity to each other which gave rise to the name of the open area behind The Ark and the IFC: Meeting House Square. With respect. –Yours, etc, STEVEN C. SMYRL Rathgar, Dublin 6. The NTMA and scams Sir, – Resulting from the recent scam carried out against the NTMA, which I'm sure was carried with some aplomb and professionalism: If those charged with minding the Government coffers can be scammed, then I might ask how are we, the ordinary citizen, supposed to keep up with the latest scams that scammers come up with? I would suggest that mere talk, committees and online lists of those to avoid are insufficient. Action is needed. – Yours, etc, ANTAINE O'DUIBHIR, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Wise words Sir, – It was good to read the letter by Fr Laurence Cullen (Letters, July 17th) regarding the deeply enriching work of some great Irish missionaries. They were giving dynamic testament to the truth of the saying of Saint Francis of Assisi : Preach the gospel at all times. And if necessary use words. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL GLEESON. Killarney, Co Kerry. Still rubbish Sir, – Laura O Mara ( recently) and Karen Higgins (in the mid 1970s) asked the question: why do we leave rubbish on the beach after us? Now Karen is rather puzzled it seems that after all this time has elapsed (50 years or so) since her first appeal, these people or more probably their offspring, are still leaving rubbish on the beach . Here is a possible answer : All those rubbish litterers do not read The Irish Times. – Yours, etc, PAT WILLIAMS, Dublin 6W.
Irish Times
15-07-2025
- Irish Times
Brothers' abuse of sisters was hidden in Dublin family for years
A 'fancier than usual' Easter egg is a welcome treat for most children but when Richard Brennan gave one to his 11-year-old sister Catherine, she feared what her older brother might expect in return. She woke that night to find him in her bed sexually assaulting her. Richard was aged 19 and studying for the priesthood when he began sexually abusing Catherine in their Rathfarnham home in Dublin on her ninth birthday. He put her sitting on her bed, instructed her to remove her underwear and sexually abused her. She vomited and cried in the bathroom later as she tried to scrub herself clean and was 'very confused' because her brother, who came home at weekends from Clonliffe College , was 'supposed to be a man of God'. After Catherine disclosed the abuse at the age of 13, it was dismissed by her father as 'just sexual curiosity' while her mother said she was 'lying' and being 'dramatic'. It continued until she was 14. READ MORE Richard Brennan arriving at the Central Criminal Court. Photograph: Collins Catherine was unaware until years later that Richard also abused her older sisters Paula and Yvonne, or that an older brother, Bernard, abused her two sisters. Now aged 67, Bernard Brennan was jailed last month for four-and-a-half years after admitting 11 indecent assault offences against Yvonne Crist and Paula Fay between 1972 and 1975. His sentence hearing was told that when aged 14, Bernard called then seven-year-old Paula into the house, forced her to take off her clothes in front of some local boys and touched her inappropriately. His abuse escalated to include oral rape. Yvonne was 13 and Bernard 15 when he started abusing her. He would wake her in the night, sexually assault her and make her watch pornography. Bernard subjected both girls to abuse in front of, and with, Richard, the court was told. Bernard's counsel said he grew up in a violent home, his only sexual education was from pornography, which he re-enacted, he had no previous convictions, and offered an unreserved apology to his sisters. [ Boy (13) uploaded sexual abuse photographs of sister (6) to Discord social media channel Opens in new window ] During his separate sentencing hearing for offences against Ms Crist, Ms Fay and Catherine Wrightstone, Richard claimed that from the age of three he was naturalised into sexually deviant behaviour by Bernard and was sexually abused by a friend of his father's. The family home was not a happy one. The children's mother had a history of mental illness and their father, a self-employed businessman, was an alcoholic who was sometimes violent to their mother and the children. The family was musical – especially the girls, who found some solace in their singing voices. 'My ability to sing became my refuge, my escape, my lifeline,' Ms Fay said. 'Music was something no one could take from me, and it carried me through the darkness.' Ms Wrightstone was first to break the silence about the abuse. In 1984, aged 13 and encouraged by her best friend Michelle Gubbins, she disclosed she was being sexually abused by Richard to a specialist educator linked to her school. 'Michelle said to me, if you tell a grown up, they will take care of it and it will stop.' Her disclosure was reported to the head nun, who called in her parents to inform them. 'Nothing happened,' Ms Wrightstone said. Her parents took no action, their physical beatings of the children worsened and the sexual abuse by Richard continued. [ Richard Brennan jailed for eight years for sexually abusing three of his sisters Opens in new window ] Later that year, she was admitted to Dublin's Meath Hospital with lower limb paralysis. Unable to identify the source of her condition, the hospital made a referral to St John of God's for family therapy. Ms Wrightstone said redacted, sometimes illegible, records of those meetings included references to her father defending Richard's actions as 'just sexual curiosity'. Her parents decided after five or six sessions not to continue with the family therapy. Ms Wrightstone had therapy for several more months but was 'very guarded'. She was not believed, and her sisters were then too frightened to disclose the abuse of them. A 'long and arduous' journey: From left, Paula Fay, Yvonne Crist and Catherine Wrightstone Back home, Ms Wrightstone said her mother was hostile when she tried to raise Richard's abuse, telling her to 'shut up' and 'move on'. When aged 15 or 16, her mother's response when told his abuse was escalating was to tell her she was 'lying' and being 'dramatic'. 'She said to move on and 'get a grip', that I would experience far worse things in life.' In 2019, all three sisters made formal complaints to gardaí, leading to an investigation and the prosecution of both brothers, who returned from the US to Ireland for their trials. [ Officials resist schools abuse redress scheme Opens in new window ] Richard maintained his not guilty pleas until after his three sisters gave evidence, and two had been cross-examined in his trial last March. He ultimately pleaded guilty to counts of indecent assault and rape of Ms Fay and Ms Wrightstone. He admitted one offence of indecent assault against Ms Crist relating to an incident when she was aged 20. Then singing professionally, she had toured in the United States and was staying in the family home while singing in Jury's hotel as a soloist. She woke during the night to find Richard naked in the bed on top of her and screamed at him to leave. Having initially refused, he left after she grabbed the phone, threatening to make an emergency call. Having been ordained a Catholic priest in 1989, Richard went to Montana in the US but left the priesthood in 1992 after meeting his wife Bridget, an emergency physician. They married in 1993 and he worked in sales and later as a chaplain in the hospital where his wife worked. Bridget Brennan, three of their adult children and two friends travelled to Ireland for the case. Ms Brennan asked the judge to receive 20 letters of support, plus testimonials from their children, on behalf of her husband, 'one of the kindest, most compassionate and trustworthy people I have ever met'. She never had concerns about leaving their children with him, she said. A theme in the sisters' victim impact statements was their sense of strength and empowerment now their abuser had 'finally been brought to justice'. They are survivors, the women stressed, and expressed deep gratitude for all who supported them, including their husbands and children. Ms Wrightstone, a licensed psychotherapist, stressed she was not seeking 'vengeance' but wanted recognition of the harm and lasting impact of the crimes on her life, 'and the immense courage it took to come forward as a child, a teenager and then as an adult'. She wanted, 'most important of all', her voice to matter 'because, for too long, it did not'. Catherine Wrightstone. Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times While recognising the court has limited power to address the 'widespread systemic issue of sexual violence against young girls and women', it has power 'to show that the gross injustice of these types of acts will not be tolerated', she said. 'Thankfully, the Ireland of the 1980s is not the same as the Ireland of 2025.' The damage done by childhood sexual abuse and rape is 'a lifelong sentence of emotional pain, broken trust, and an ongoing struggle to reclaim safety and self-worth'. In her statement, Ms Fay said she was a child with 'no voice, no power, and no sense of worth', whose world was 'shaped by overwhelming fear'. This justice is not just for me, but for all those who have endured such pain and fought to be heard. Today I truly am a survivor — Paula Fay She was 17 when she finally broke free from this 'relentless' sexual abuse, having endured at least 10 years of it, beginning at just six or seven years old at the hands of Bernard and carried on through the rest of her childhood by Richard. The 'psychological torment' did not end with the abuse – it affected her mental, emotional and physical health. However, she was 'immensely proud' of the woman she has become, 'of her strength, resilience, and unwavering spirit'. The sisters' journey had been 'long and arduous'. The Director of Public Prosecutions' decision to press charges 'felt like an eternity', with legal obstacles between the women 'and the chance to finally speak our truth'. Ms Fay hoped her brother's sentence reflected the severity of his crimes 'and brings accountability long overdue'. 'This justice is not just for me, but for all those who have endured such pain and fought to be heard. Today I truly am a survivor.' In her statement via video link from the US, Ms Crist, a widowed mother of two, said she has recurring nightmares of the night Richard, aged 18, tried to sexually assault her, aged 20, as she slept. She was 'terrified' of his strength and regretted not calling gardaí then 'as you wouldn't have been able to continue your sexual behaviours towards my sisters'. He made her feel she was 'a filthy piece of dirt' who 'did not deserve to live'. [ Sisters lost half their family after reporting sexual abuse by older cousin, court hears Opens in new window ] She had overcome anorexia that developed in her teens but developed a mental illness at the age of 28, leading to extensive treatment over years. Her serious bouts of mental illness 'prove that incest lasts a lifetime'. Music was 'my saving grace' and her singing career helped take her away 'from my troubled self'. 'Now I can function very well, I survived and I am a survivor,' she said. Her message was: 'Never doubt and survive because you are so worth it. Life does get better.' On Monday, Richard Brennan was jailed for a total of eight years after admitting to indecently assault of three of his sisters and raping two of them when they were minors.
Irish Times
15-07-2025
- Irish Times
‘Just sexual curiosity': Brothers' abuse of sisters was hidden in Dublin family for years
A 'fancier than usual' Easter egg is a welcome treat for most children but when Richard Brennan gave one to his 11-year-old sister Catherine, she feared what her older brother might expect in return. She woke that night to find him in her bed sexually assaulting her. Richard was aged 19 and studying for the priesthood when he began sexually abusing Catherine in their Rathfarnham home in Dublin on her ninth birthday. He put her sitting on her bed, instructed her to remove her underwear and sexually abused her. She vomited and cried in the bathroom later as she tried to scrub herself clean and was 'very confused' because her brother, who came home at weekends from Clonliffe College , was 'supposed to be a man of God'. After Catherine disclosed the abuse at the age of 13, it was dismissed by her father as 'just sexual curiosity' while her mother said she was 'lying' and being 'dramatic'. It continued until she was 14. READ MORE Richard Brennan arriving at the Central Criminal Court. Photograph: Collins Catherine was unaware until years later that Richard also abused her older sisters Paula and Yvonne, or that an older brother, Bernard, abused her two sisters. Now aged 67, Bernard Brennan was jailed last month for four-and-a-half years after admitting 11 indecent assault offences against Yvonne Crist and Paula Fay between 1972 and 1975. His sentence hearing was told that when aged 14, Bernard called then seven-year-old Paula into the house, forced her to take off her clothes in front of some local boys and touched her inappropriately. His abuse escalated to include oral rape. Yvonne was 13 and Bernard 15 when he started abusing her. He would wake her in the night, sexually assault her and make her watch pornography. Bernard subjected both girls to abuse in front of, and with, Richard, the court was told. Bernard's counsel said he grew up in a violent home, his only sexual education was from pornography, which he re-enacted, he had no previous convictions, and offered an unreserved apology to his sisters. [ Boy (13) uploaded sexual abuse photographs of sister (6) to Discord social media channel Opens in new window ] During his separate sentencing hearing for offences against Ms Crist, Ms Fay and Catherine Wrightstone, Richard claimed that from the age of three he was naturalised into sexually deviant behaviour by Bernard and was sexually abused by a friend of his father's. The family home was not a happy one. The children's mother had a history of mental illness and their father, a self-employed businessman, was an alcoholic who was sometimes violent to their mother and the children. The family was musical – especially the girls, who found some solace in their singing voices. 'My ability to sing became my refuge, my escape, my lifeline,' Ms Fay said. 'Music was something no one could take from me, and it carried me through the darkness.' Ms Wrightstone was first to break the silence about the abuse. In 1984, aged 13 and encouraged by her best friend Michelle Gubbins, she disclosed she was being sexually abused by Richard to a specialist educator linked to her school. 'Michelle said to me, if you tell a grown up, they will take care of it and it will stop.' Her disclosure was reported to the head nun, who called in her parents to inform them. 'Nothing happened,' Ms Wrightstone said. Her parents took no action, their physical beatings of the children worsened and the sexual abuse by Richard continued. [ Richard Brennan jailed for eight years for sexually abusing three of his sisters Opens in new window ] Later that year, she was admitted to Dublin's Meath Hospital with lower limb paralysis. Unable to identify the source of her condition, the hospital made a referral to St John of God's for family therapy. Ms Wrightstone said redacted, sometimes illegible, records of those meetings included references to her father defending Richard's actions as 'just sexual curiosity'. Her parents decided after five or six sessions not to continue with the family therapy. Ms Wrightstone had therapy for several more months but was 'very guarded'. She was not believed, and her sisters were then too frightened to disclose the abuse of them. A 'long and arduous' journey: From left, Paula Fay, Yvonne Crist and Catherine Wrightstone Back home, Ms Wrightstone said her mother was hostile when she tried to raise Richard's abuse, telling her to 'shut up' and 'move on'. When aged 15 or 16, her mother's response when told his abuse was escalating was to tell her she was 'lying' and being 'dramatic'. 'She said to move on and 'get a grip', that I would experience far worse things in life.' In 2019, all three sisters made formal complaints to gardaí, leading to an investigation and the prosecution of both brothers, who returned from the US to Ireland for their trials. [ Officials resist schools abuse redress scheme Opens in new window ] Richard maintained his not guilty pleas until after his three sisters gave evidence, and two had been cross-examined in his trial last March. He ultimately pleaded guilty to counts of indecent assault and rape of Ms Fay and Ms Wrightstone. He admitted one offence of indecent assault against Ms Crist relating to an incident when she was aged 20. Then singing professionally, she had toured in the United States and was staying in the family home while singing in Jury's hotel as a soloist. She woke during the night to find Richard naked in the bed on top of her and screamed at him to leave. Having initially refused, he left after she grabbed the phone, threatening to make an emergency call. Having been ordained a Catholic priest in 1989, Richard went to Montana in the US but left the priesthood in 1992 after meeting his wife Bridget, an emergency physician. They married in 1993 and he worked in sales and later as a chaplain in the hospital where his wife worked. Bridget Brennan, three of their adult children and two friends travelled to Ireland for the case. Ms Brennan asked the judge to receive 20 letters of support, plus testimonials from their children, on behalf of her husband, 'one of the kindest, most compassionate and trustworthy people I have ever met'. She never had concerns about leaving their children with him, she said. A theme in the sisters' victim impact statements was their sense of strength and empowerment now their abuser had 'finally been brought to justice'. They are survivors, the women stressed, and expressed deep gratitude for all who supported them, including their husbands and children. Ms Wrightstone, a licensed psychotherapist, stressed she was not seeking 'vengeance' but wanted recognition of the harm and lasting impact of the crimes on her life, 'and the immense courage it took to come forward as a child, a teenager and then as an adult'. She wanted, 'most important of all', her voice to matter 'because, for too long, it did not'. Catherine Wrightstone. Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times While recognising the court has limited power to address the 'widespread systemic issue of sexual violence against young girls and women', it has power 'to show that the gross injustice of these types of acts will not be tolerated', she said. 'Thankfully, the Ireland of the 1980s is not the same as the Ireland of 2025.' The damage done by childhood sexual abuse and rape is 'a lifelong sentence of emotional pain, broken trust, and an ongoing struggle to reclaim safety and self-worth'. In her statement, Ms Fay said she was a child with 'no voice, no power, and no sense of worth', whose world was 'shaped by overwhelming fear'. This justice is not just for me, but for all those who have endured such pain and fought to be heard. Today I truly am a survivor — Paula Fay She was 17 when she finally broke free from this 'relentless' sexual abuse, having endured at least 10 years of it, beginning at just six or seven years old at the hands of Bernard and carried on through the rest of her childhood by Richard. The 'psychological torment' did not end with the abuse – it affected her mental, emotional and physical health. However, she was 'immensely proud' of the woman she has become, 'of her strength, resilience, and unwavering spirit'. The sisters' journey had been 'long and arduous'. The Director of Public Prosecutions' decision to press charges 'felt like an eternity', with legal obstacles between the women 'and the chance to finally speak our truth'. Ms Fay hoped her brother's sentence reflected the severity of his crimes 'and brings accountability long overdue'. 'This justice is not just for me, but for all those who have endured such pain and fought to be heard. Today I truly am a survivor.' In her statement via video link from the US, Ms Crist, a widowed mother of two, said she has recurring nightmares of the night Richard, aged 18, tried to sexually assault her, aged 20, as she slept. She was 'terrified' of his strength and regretted not calling gardaí then 'as you wouldn't have been able to continue your sexual behaviours towards my sisters'. He made her feel she was 'a filthy piece of dirt' who 'did not deserve to live'. [ Sisters lost half their family after reporting sexual abuse by older cousin, court hears Opens in new window ] She had overcome anorexia that developed in her teens but developed a mental illness at the age of 28, leading to extensive treatment over years. Her serious bouts of mental illness 'prove that incest lasts a lifetime'. Music was 'my saving grace' and her singing career helped take her away 'from my troubled self'. 'Now I can function very well, I survived and I am a survivor,' she said. Her message was: 'Never doubt and survive because you are so worth it. Life does get better.' On Monday, Richard Brennan was jailed for a total of eight years after admitting to indecently assault of three of his sisters and raping two of them when they were minors.
