Child rapist Patrick O'Brien has had his bail reversed and will now serve a 3-year jail sentence for abusing his daughter.

Mr. Justice Paul Carney has accepted that releasing the 72-year-old last Monday was inappropriate and insensitive.

The judge also said he had no hesitation expressing his ''profound regret'' to the victim Fiona Doyle.

Speaking to reporters outside the Criminal Courts of Justice she said she was happy with today's decision and feels vindicated.

Ms. Doyle has urged her father 'as a sign of remorse' not to appeal his 3-year jail sentence which she said in his present ill health 'is a lifetime for him'.

Patrick O'Brien from Oldcourt, Bray in Co. Wicklow pleaded guilty to raping and indecently his daughter from 1973 to 1982 at Mackintosh Park, Pottery Road in Dun Laoghaire.

Fiona Doyle told the Central Criminal Court he first raped her on the night before her Holy Communion and that it became as 'frequent as having dinner'.

He was given a 12-year sentence with 9-years suspended last Monday.

 Public outcry at original decision 

Mr. Justice Paul Carney said it was one of the most serious cases of abuse by a father but expressed concerns about what would be a suitable sentence for a man in bad health.

The 72-year-old is in the care of 9 consultants, has a heart problem and requires oxygen at night.

The judge felt there was legal uncertainty about jailing a person in his condition, ruled that the case was fit for an appeal and granted bail to Mr. O'Brien in the meantime.

It was a decision that caused a public outcry and one which Mr. Justice Carney has rowed back on after the DPP today expressed concern that bail had been granted at a time when no appeal had been set in motion.

Mr. Justice Carney accepted that the sentence had been dealt with in a ''procedurally confused manner at the very least''.

Referring to the Court of Criminal Appeal he said he had been anxious for the immediate involvement of other judges: ' I didn't want to take responsibility of this particular case entirely on my own. I wanted the burden to be shared with others'.

He noted the old law which gave a trial court authority to grant leave for an appeal has changed and said he should not have followed it as a precedent: ''I set aside the certificate (for an appeal) I gave and accordingly bail falls'.

After Mr Justice Carney's ruling, lawyers for Patrick O'Brien made a fresh application for his release on bail but it was refused.

Fiona Doyle spoke outside the court following this latest ruling.