The Star Newspaper, Friday November 19th 2010

Fair Play for Abused Husband Storyline

By Catriona Loughran

RTE soap praised for 'accurate' portrayal of violence.

A shockingly violent scene in Fair City has been praised for accurately portraying the reality behind male victims of domestic abuse.

For weeks, Damien Halpin (played by Maclean Burke) has physically and verbally tormented by his partner Suzanne Doyle (Sarah MacDowall). In Wednesday night's episode which pulled in 700,000 viewers, the violence came to a head when she punched him several times in the head and ribs.

A number of viewers complained that it was too violent for prime time viewing but RTE spokesman said the general response was positive. "We received a small number of complaints but overall viewers wanted to congratulate the actors on the powerful performances," he said.

Victims

And voluntary organisation Amen which offers support to male victims of domestic abuse applauded the long running soap for highlighting the subject.

"We congratulate RTE's Fair City for tackling this serious subject and raising awareness of this type of domestic violence," said Amen manager Niamh Farrell. "We also felt the portrayal of violence was accurate and we don't think it was over the top," she said.

After the episode, Amen was inundated with calls from victims. "Up to a dozen men called our helpline," Ms Farrell said.

Scriptwriters and the two actors worked with Amen's counsellors for 18months before filming.

If anyone has been affected by the storyline, they can contact Amen's helpline on 046 9023718 or 086 7941880, or email info@amen.ie

'You try and get it as real as possible'

Fair City actor Maclean Burke is getting a battering on the soap at the hands of his co-star Sarah Flood but he has also suffered some real-life bruising.

And Maclean has revealed that the abuse his character Damien Halpin gets from his violent on-screen wife Suzanne is real.

He said "You try and get it as real as possible; you have to roll with the punches."

But Sarah had to be extra careful with Maclean during filming. He shattered his shoulder during a biking accident earlier this year. He said "I had to get reconstructive surgery on my right side. All the hitting and beating scenes we had to do on the left side."