Woman wins right to name Irish dance teacher who abused her

Famed dance teacher is named after she wins civil suit

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Dana Doherty leaves court with her partner, Fintan Gallagher.

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Dana Doherty, from Letterkenny Co, Donegal, has been awarded by the Supreme Court the right to name the Irish dancing teacher who abused her for seven years.The court ruling on Tuesday has allowed Doherty to publicly identify her abuser as Michael Quigley, 68, of Barnhill Park Co, Donegal.

Quigley is one of Ireland’s most high profile dance teachers and is one of the most established dance teachers in the country. Doherty allowed her own name to become public in hope of getting Quigley’s name public as well.

Quigley was found by the high court to have sexually abused Doherty as her Irish dance teacher from the age of 12 to 19 years old during the time period of 1982-1989. The high court hearing awarded her $60,000 and also found that two other unnamed people who had given evidence against the dance teacher had also been "interfered" with.

An immediate demand to pay out $5,000 was issued by Justice Ryan.

Doherty's solicitor Brian Gill read a statement made by her in which she claimed she had been telling the truth since 1993.

In 2000 and 2007, Quigley was charged with 24 cases of indecent assault yet the failure of two separate juries to reach a decision did not see him found guilty by the Letterkenny circuit criminal court.

41-year-old Dogerty expressed her relief that the civil case had found her attacker guilty and also expressed concern that a similar situation would not occur.

She urged those in relevant positions within the Irish dance circle to "take necessary measures to protect the children under their care."

She thanked two other dance pupils who had stood by her during the abuse allegations and who stated they too had been abused by Quigley.

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