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Colm O'Gorman (born 15 July 1966) is the executive director of
Amnesty International Ireland Amnesty International Ireland (commonly known as Amnesty and AI) is the Irish branch of the international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, Amnesty International. One of its founding members was German Abwehr agent Helmut C ...
. He is founder and former director of One in Four. He is a survivor of
clerical Clerical may refer to: * Pertaining to the clergy * Pertaining to a clerical worker * Clerical script, a style of Chinese calligraphy * Clerical People's Party See also * Cleric (disambiguation) Cleric is a member of the clergy. Cleric may a ...
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
, and first came to public attention by speaking out against the perpetrators. O'Gorman subsequently founded One in Four, an Irish charity which supports men and women who have been
sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...
and/or suffered
sexual violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...
. He was a Senator in 2007, representing the
Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Mal ...
.


Early and private life

Colm O'Gorman was born in
County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...
. His father was Seán O'Gorman, of
Adamstown, County Wexford Adamstown () is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It is about north-west of Wexford, east of New Ross, and south-west of Enniscorthy. History A monastery called Magheranoidhe was built in the area c. 600 AD by a Saint Abban different fr ...
– a farmer, builder and local
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...
politician. Seán O'Gorman was a member of
Wexford County Council Wexford County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Loch Garman) is the authority responsible for local government in County Wexford, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for hous ...
, and later moved with his family to live in
Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
town. He twice stood unsuccessfully as a Fianna Fáil candidate in general elections: in 1969 and 1973. In 2002, Colm O'Gorman settled near
Gorey Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is beside the main M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the ''Gorey Guardian''. As a growi ...
, County Wexford. He is raising two children with his husband Paul, of whom they have joint legal guardianship. When this was revealed it generated debate on fosterships in the Irish media.


Child sexual abuse and the Roman Catholic Church

As an adolescent in County Wexford – between the age of 15 and 17 – O'Gorman was sexually abused by Fr Seán Fortune. The abuse occurred between 1981 and 1983. He became the first of Fortune's many victims to come forward and report the assaults to the
Irish police This is a description of law enforcement in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Before the Republic (then called the Irish Free State) left the union in 1922, one police force — the Royal Irish Constabulary — policed almost the whole ...
. In 1998, he sued the Bishop of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns The Diocese of Ferns ( ga, Deoise Fhearna) is a Roman Catholic diocese in south-eastern Ireland. It is one of three suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin and is subject to the Archdiocese of Dublin. ...
and the
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
Papal Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...
, inter alia the then Pope, John Paul II, who later claimed
diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.
. His case against the Catholic Diocese of Ferns was
settled A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...
in 2003 with an admission of negligence and the payment of damages – in April 2003, O'Gorman was awarded €300,000 damages. O'Gorman documented his lawsuit in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary ''
Suing the Pope ''Suing the Pope'' is a March 2002 documentary by Colm O'Gorman and the BBC which details the abusive activities of priest Sean Fortune and the response of the diocese of Ferns to his activities over the years. As a result, bishop Brendan Comi ...
''. He successfully campaigned to set up the Ferns Inquiry, the first Irish state inquiry into clerical sexual abuse. He founded the charity One in Four in London in 1999 and established its sister organisation in Ireland in 2002. He is a well-known figure in Irish media as an advocate of child sexual abuse victims and a commentator and campaigner on sexual violence. He was named one of the ESB/Rehab People of the Year and received a TV3/'' Daily Star'' "Best of Irish" award in 2002, one of the '' Sunday Independent''/'' Irish Nationwide'' People of the Year in 2003 and in the same year he was also awarded the James Larkin Justice Award by the Labour Party for his contribution to
social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
in Ireland. In 2006 O'Gorman presented ''
Sex Crimes and the Vatican ''Sex Crimes and the Vatican'' (2006) is a documentary film (39 min) presented by the BBC program ''Panorama''. It aired on 1 October 2006. Allegations ''Sex Crimes and the Vatican'' was filmed for the BBC's '' Panorama'' documentary series. It ...
'' for the BBC ''Panorama'' documentary series, which claimed that the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
has used
Crimen sollicitationis (Latin for ''On the Manner of Proceeding in Cases of the Crime of Solicitation'') is the title of a 1962 document ("instruction") of the Holy Office codifying procedures to be followed in cases of priests or bishops of the Catholic Church ac ...
secret document to silence allegations of sexual abuse by priests and also claimed Crimen sollicitationis was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope
Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
. In 2020, O'Gorman was interviewed as part of the Australian documentary series ''
Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
''.


Political career

In April 2006, he announced that he would stand for the
Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Mal ...
, a pro-free market liberal political party, in the 2007 general election in the Wexford constituency. On 3 May 2007, he was appointed to the Seanad by the
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Kate Walsh. He was not elected in the 2007 general election in Wexford polling 3% of the vote. He was not re-appointed to the 23rd Seanad in July 2007.


Amnesty International

O'Gorman is the executive director of
Amnesty International Ireland Amnesty International Ireland (commonly known as Amnesty and AI) is the Irish branch of the international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, Amnesty International. One of its founding members was German Abwehr agent Helmut C ...
, and often appears in the media to talk or write about human rights in Ireland and around the world. He and Amnesty have called for an update to Ireland's hate-crime legislation, stating that freedom of expression does not extend to hate crime and that Irish people need to accept that "it is not enough to be anti-racist but that there is a need to be actively anti-racist."


References


External links


Official Colm O'Gorman site

One In Four official site

One In Four UK

Apology and settlement from the Church


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogorman, Colm 1966 births Living people People from Gorey Activists for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church Amnesty International people Gay politicians LGBT legislators in Ireland Members of the 22nd Seanad Progressive Democrats senators Nominated members of Seanad Éireann Irish abortion-rights activists 21st-century LGBT people