Editorial: Female former players’ voices have been heard, and now it’s time for action

They have said their sole motivation in speaking out – to the Sunday Independent and to RTÉ Investigates – was so others might be spared from enduring similar ordeals.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has apologised for the alleged misconduct.

“We are sorry for what you had to endure, we’re sorry that anyone could have ever felt unsafe,” interim CEO David Courell said yesterday.

The women have lived with their inner agonies and endured them with all the strength they could summon. It’s been suggested that to heal our wounds, we must first have the courage to face them. Therefore, the spirit and heroism of these women for speaking out must be saluted.

But it is also time for us as a society to confront and question why such claims occur with such disturbing frequency? The shock and revulsion in the past when other allegations emerged has robbed us of any right to be surprised. The women’s devastating and deeply personal claims may indeed be shattering, but one of the most distressing elements of the litany of heartbreak is that it is far from unprecedented.

Neuroscientists may tell us intense pain is there to carry a message of danger to our brains. It’s a signal so that we may protect and prevent against further harm. If we had hoped – after all the past revelations – that such a message had gone out to our society as a whole, so that we might limit or eradicate further risks, we may have been severely mistaken.

It is distressing to learn once again that those whom have made such claims have been left to bear their grief in the margins, where they felt cut off.

They firmly believe they were let down by those in authority or control.

It is essential, therefore, that there is a statutory investigation into all these matters.

These need to be investigated impartially and without prejudice. Any sense of shame and degradation survivors have been made to feel historically, because they were neither listened to or taken seriously, has to be eradicated.

For contrary to comforting beliefs, time does not necessarily heal all wounds. They must be treated.

Survivors may learn how to camouflage emotional scar tissue with a brave face, but the pain can endure at a deeper level.

Any violation where a trust has been exploited and power has been corrupted for advantage has the potential to do permanent harm.

Too many women have been left to feel abandoned. They had to endure the loneliness of their private pain. Not knowing what to do, or whom to turn to, came with its own torment.

Having broken their silence, they must be given reassurance.

Their voices have been heard.