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	Manuela Riedo Foundation funding shortfall in State support for rape crisis networks</p>
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	Galway is still the only city in the State to offer both 24-hour treatment and crisis support for children who have been sexually abused.</p>
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	Such supports should be extended nationally, according to consultant paediatrician Dr Joanne Nelson, who is clinical director of the child and adolescent sexual assault treatment service in Galway.</p>
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	Dr Nelson is a board member of the Manuela Riedo Foundation Ireland, named in memory of the Swiss teenager murdered in Galway in 2007, which on Monday announced its best fundraising year to date.</p>
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	Vital support</p>
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	That private funding - amounting to &euro;53,500 in 2015 - has been vital in supporting rape crisis support services which were affected by HSE cutbacks, Dr Nelson said.</p>
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	The foundation has now raised just short of &euro;250,000, which is allocated to professional support organisations who must engage in a competitive tendering procedure.</p>
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	Arlette Riedo, Manuela&rsquo;s mother and foundation patron, along with her husband Hans-Peter, said the couple were &ldquo;delighted&rdquo; to learn of the level of funding and paid tribute to all those who supported it.</p>
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	&ldquo;What started out as a tragedy for our family and the loss of our only child has turned into something beautiful and positive,&rdquo; Ms Riedo said.</p>
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	&ldquo;We hope many young people continue to get the help they need and to have the future that Manuela will never have,&rdquo; she said.</p>
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	Galway has pioneered the co-location of sexual assault treatment services for children, adolescents and adults, and established a paediatric training position in forensic child sex abuse.</p>
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	The Manuela Riedo Foundation and Children at Risk in Ireland (Cari) initiated a crisis worker programme last year to support this, providing advocacy for children and families in the aftermath of abuse, right up to and including court hearings.</p>
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	The foundation said it allocated funds to relieve rape crisis waiting lists for counselling in Galway, Kerry and Tullamore, Co Offaly, and funded crisis training in Dundalk, Co Louth.</p>
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	Two-day conference</p>
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	The foundation also hosted a two-day conference for rape crisis centres as part of its plan to build a &ldquo;nationwide, comprehensive, evidence-based education programme targeting 15- to 16-year-olds in the area of sexual violence prevention&rdquo;.</p>
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	The foundation&rsquo;s fundraising has relied on volunteers, including some 400 who took part in this year&rsquo;s Dingle marathon and half marathon in Co Kerry, its spokesman Shane Lennon noted, paying tribute to the efforts.</p>
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	Gerald Barry (29), of Rosan Glas, Rahoon, Galway, received a mandatory life sentence in March 2009 for Ms Riedo&rsquo;s murder in October 2007.</p>
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	In July 2009 he received two life sentences for attacking and raping a French woman, a crime which occurred seven weeks before he killed Ms Riedo.</p>
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	He had previously been given five years for violent disorder arising from the death of Tipperary-man Colm Phelan, who was killed by Barry and others following an unprovoked attack in Eyre Square in July 1996.</p>
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	<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/call-for-24-hour-treatment-support-for-sexually-abused-children-1.2449090">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/call-for-24-hour-treatment-support-for-sexually-abused-children-1.2449090</a></p>
