For some victims, not being believed is almost as bad as the abuse itself, one survivor has said. 

Yesterday, Education Minister Norma Foley announced a Commission of Investigation into allegations of abuse by members of religious orders in Irish schools.

The announcement followed the publication of a scoping inquiry which found that religious orders have recorded almost 2,400 allegations of abuse across 308 schools.

On The Pat Kenny Show, survivor John Coulter said he had been abused by two priests during his time at school.

“It was abuse that I suffered on a Monday and somebody else suffered on a Tuesday and someone else on Wednesday,” he said.

“With the same priest perpetrating this on various boys.

“In my own case, it was something I managed; I never felt that it really negatively affected me in a way that I was conscious of.

“When these stories started coming out, I read the stories from my classmates who suffered the same abuse and many of them said exactly the same amount [of abuse] crippled them for life.”

Since then, Mr Coulter has met many survivors who have come forward with their stories.

One thing that stands out to him is how many people told their parents of the abuse they were suffering.

Often the family would then complain to the school, only to be persuaded by staff that their child had been “exaggerating” what they went through.

“Or the  authorities would say, ‘Well, I’ll make sure that priest has nothing to do with your boy,’” he said.

“That may well have happened - the priest didn’t interact or interfere or abuse that boy but the priest was left in-situ and was left to continue to perpetrate abuse on others.

“The not being believed by parents or authorities was often as traumatising and hurtful as the abuse itself.”

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Mr Coulter said the true number of victims is “much larger” than the number of people who submitted evidence to the scoping inquiry.

“Every time there’s another wave of news like this, we find more people coming forward,” he said.

“You’ve got to remember, for many men and women, the abuse they suffered was something that they’ve locked away for 40 years.

“In many cases, they haven’t spoken to anybody about it - that’s been their way of protecting themselves.”

Anyone who has been impacted by abuse can contact the charity One in Four on 01 66 24070 for information on their counselling services.

Main image: John Coulter. Picture by: Alamy.com