SURVIVORS of sexual abuse at Dunderrow National School have welcomed confirmation that the vacant building will be demolished.

The two-roomed school building is owned by Eli Lilly and has been used for storage and fire safety training exercises. The site was back in the spotlight again last week after 19 women abused by former principal Leo Hickey during the 1960s and 1970s went public about their fight for redress from the State.

Calls had been made in recent years for the building to demolished as it served as a dark reminder of the horrific sexual abuse perpetrated by Hickey while he served as principal of the school from 1962 to 1974.

Speaking anonymously one survivor of the horrific abuse said razing the building is well overdue.

‘It’s a constant reminder for people living in the area of horrific sexual abuse that occurred there,’ she said.

She recounted the litany of abuse she and her fellow pupils suffered at the time where she said ‘no room was safe.’ She added that abuse on her started when she went into third class and occurred in ‘plain sight’ and ‘was all day, every say and it was relentless.’

Her view was echoed by Louise O’Keeffe, who was also abused by Hickey while attending the school.

She subsequently took the Irish Government all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in 2014, which ruled in her favour in that the State was responsible for the protection of children in the school.

‘Every pupil male or female who went through that school during Leo Hickey’s time there will be delighted to hear that there are plans to demolish it,’ said Louise.

A spokesperson for Eli Lilly Kinsale confirmed to The Southern Star that they have intermittently used the building for fire safety training exercises.

‘Following consultation with our community neighbours about potential future uses, we plan with (Cork County Council’s agreement) to demolish the building in due course.’

Hickey served three years in prison after pleading guilty to 21 sample counts from 386 sexual offence charges against 21 former pupils at the school.

He was also convicted at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in 2017 of the sexual abuse of Daniel Kelleher on dates between November 1991 and June 1992 while teaching at Scoil Eoin Boys School in Ballincollig. He was sentenced to three years in prison with the last two years suspended.

The two-roomed school was built at Horsehill More in 1933 but has remained vacant since a new modern primary school was built in Dunderrow village in 2000.