Guest speakers at a conference in celebrating 25 years of the Galway Rape Crisis Centre last week used the occasion to call for the resignation and prosecution of bishops and gardai involved in collusion over institutional abuse.

Key speakers at the event, which was held at the Ardilaun Hotel last Friday, included Labour Senator Ivana Bacik, Person of the Year Micheal O'Brien and Ailbhe Smyth of UCD Women's Education Research and Resource Centre.

The major national conference saw a number of themes discussed throughout the day, from the need for consistent research, mass education around rape myths and changes in the law if there was to be any change in the rates of sexual violence in Ireland.

Senator Bacik welcomed the publication of the Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, but condemned the failures of the Church and State authorities to deal appropriately with allegations of sexual abuse, as exposed in the report.

In a powerful and moving speech, Mr Micheal O’Brien called for a complete separation of church and state and the need for a higher proportion of female politicians.

Ms Ailbhe Smyth, meanwhile, outlined the need for recognition of the high economic cost of sexual violence, especially in relation to medical care and asked that this be taken into consideration before any services were affected by cuts.

Margaret O'Reilly-Carroll of Spirasi called for the Istanbul Protocol to be implemented in the treatment of asylum seekers who have experienced torture, allowing them access to male or female medical care and counselling.

Speaking following the event, Glen Carragher of Galway Rape Crisis Centre said the conference had been a huge success.

"The Galway Rape Crisis Centre would like to express its heartfelt appreciation to all of those who helped make our national conference a reality on Friday 27 November. The continuing importance of education and awareness raising, as a key goal for the GRCC in the areas of ending cultural and societal tolerance of sexual violence, was greatly promoted by the event and the attendance of so many notable speakers and delegates.

"As a proactive event, it helped to bring together many valuable discussions and help to focus the organisation, not on a retrospective of 25 years of work, but of how best to go forward in our shared aspirations of a just and equal society where everyone has the right to live free from sexual violence and abuse. We look forward to the coming years, increasing tolerance, understanding, justice and a genuine hope for the future," he said.

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