THE Government has confirmed that it is to enter mediation talks with the 19 women who were sexually abused by their former principal Leo Hickey in Dunderrow National School in the 1960s and 1970s.

Hickey, who ran the primary school from 1962 to 1974, was sentenced to three years in prison in 1998 after pleading guilty to 21 sample counts from 386 sexual offence charges against 21 former pupils.

The confirmation was made by the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton on Tuesday who secured government approval to enter mediation talks with the women, who are being legally represented by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).

It is understood that the Department of Education will respond formally to the mediation request from IHREC in the coming days.

A spokesperson for IHREC told The Southern Star that as Dunderrow womens’ case is about to enter this mediation process they would be making no further comment on it at this time.

The 19 women went public last month about their ongoing fight for a redress scheme to be implemented by the Government.

They said previous redress schemes set up in 2015 and 2021 for victims of abuse because of strict eligibility criteria.

Louise O’Keeffe, who was also abused by Hickey and won a significant human rights case in the European Court of Human Rights in 2014 which found the State had failed in its duty of care to the children, previously said it must be very difficult for these 19 women in having to rehash very personal trauma in order to seek a comprehensive redress scheme.