WELL-known playwright and poet Damian Gorman has told how his brother Gerard wanted to be heard by the Catholic church after he was abused by paedophile priest Malachy Finegan.
In a new book So Young: The Talking of my Life by the Catholic Church, Gerard Gorman reveals how his 12-year-old brother was abused by Finegan while a pupil at St Colman's College in Newry in the early 1970s.
Now, more than 50 years later, Gerard, with the help of his brother, has bravely told of his experience at the hands of the notorious paedophile.
Gerard, who lives in Pontzpass in Co Armagh, is currently being treated in hospital after going through major surgery.
Damian last night spoke about the weight of responsibility he felt when asked to write the often harrowing story of abuse suffered by his brother. He said that during the process of writing the book he had to step back slightly in order to do the right thing.
"At this point I'm involved in the editing of your book, at this point I'm involved in interviewing you purposely for the book," he said.
"I'm trying to write in such a way that it captures the note of your voice and your thinking well. On the one hand you are doing all of that and then on the other hand this is your brother and you remember the time and he's saying things to you...'I didn't know what was happening to me and I wanted mum'."
"And this is your brother and you remember him and you remember he was quite small for his age and you remember what he looked like, he had these big, big blue eyes and the dark hair and you are thinking this was our Gerard - this was not a third party."
Mr Gorman said his brother wanted his story to be heard by the Catholic Church.
"When this man, my brother, decided to speak, he wanted heard and before anything he wanted heard by the institution.
"He wanted the institution of the Catholic Church to say 'this happened to you, it didn't have to happen because people knew about this man and actually somebody saw what happened to you in at least one instance' and yet things went on happening, people were moved around."
Mr Gorman said his brother also wanted acknowledgement of his cruel experience from the church.
However, a protracted legal process was frustrating.
"Then you end up in a five or six year legal process were you don't understand why is it taking this long," he said.
"Does it absolutely have to take this long because this is like mental cruelty to me."
Damian said that while his brother knew there would be a necessary legal process the delay in reaching agreement took its toll.
"Of course, he's (Gerard) a very smart fella, he understood all that, but does it have to take this excruciating, this painful amount of time, because that's like a second abuse all over again," he said.
Damian also said that in recent years his brother has met with Archbishop Eamon Martin to discuss his case and on one occasion both men became emotional.
As the journey of the writing the book nears its end Damian acknowledges that he looks up to his courageous brother.
"It's only now that I am beginning to think a wee bit about what I think myself and I know the main thing is that I admire him, my own brother," he said.
:: So Young: The Talking of my Life by the Catholic Church', published by The Black Staff Press, will be launched at the The Playhouse in Derry on Sunday at 3pm.
