Mairia Cahill has called for the introduction of mandatory sentencing for those convicted of rape. Her calls come in the aftermath of the suspended sentence given to a man who raped his girlfriend, Niamh Nic Dhomhnaill, in her sleep on multiple occasions.

Speaking to Lunchtime Cahill, who herself was the victim of rape, told Jonathan Healy she had spoken to Niamh Nic Dhomhnaill in the aftermath of the sentencing and discussed their respective reasons for waiving their anonymity in the hope it might effect some change.

“One of the reasons I wanted to go public ... is because we didn’t want to be in a situation where the victims were both badly treated by the criminal justice system and also by the perpetrators,” Cahill said.

While Ireland has come far in relation to prosecuting rape, Cahill says, since the days when rape in marriage was not a crime, she does not believe “we’ve moved very far in terms of judge’s understanding in the round this crime”.

“I would be calling on the government to introduce the minimum tariff for this crime ... so the impact of this crime is taken seriously,” she added.

“The onus shouldn’t be on victims to challenge the criminal justice system”

“It’s just one of those crimes where a victim, no matter what, will always (feel) responsible, but never should.”

“I don’t think we have taken it seriously enough as a society.”

Ms Nic Dhomnaill spoke to Breakfast this morning and said the lack of any custodial time for her abuser made her feel the crime was not taken seriously.

"I think it's only fair that when you do wrong you bear consequences of some sort, and from what I understand this has had no impact on his life," she said.

"He's been able to be in a seemingly very committed relationship...he apparently has been in steady employment the whole time."

"I haven't been able to work for quite some time."

"I've been physically unwell, mentally drained so it's hard to think that there's any justice in that."

"It seems his life has just continued - this was like a minor blip", she added.

Listen to full interview with Mairia Cahill below

Listen to Niamh Nic Dhomhnaill on Breakfast here.