A number of support groups for rape victims have called on political parties to draw up a code of practice to deal with representations by politicians on behalf of people convicted of serious sexual assaults.
The calls follow an apology by the Labour Party TD for Cork North Central, Kathleen Lynch, for writing a letter for the family of a 31-year-old man who was jailed for 13 years for the rape and sexual assault of two teenage sisters.
Trevor Casey from Fairhill in Cork City was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin last Friday after he was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting two teenage sisters of his former girlfriend.
The court was told that one of his victims has been admitted into psychiatric care, while the other began to self-harm after she was raped.
Ms Lynch wrote a letter to the court, saying Casey had come from a good family. But Trevor Casey's victims say it appeared Ms Lynch was supporting him and not them.
Kathleen Lynch heard that interview and now accepts it was not appropriate for her to get involved in the case.
The Cork Sexual Violence Centre deals with around 1,500 calls per year from people who have been sexually assaulted and insists politicians should not get involved on behalf of perpetrators in these cases.
Trevor Casey's victims say they had hoped their ordeal would end with his sentencing on Friday. Today they said they hoped it would end now.
