The Courts Service has apologised to 11 alleged victims of child sexual abuse for publishing their names on its website after the courts had ordered they were not to be identified.

The 11 men claim they were abused by retired hospital consultant Michael Shine as children and teenagers at Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and in Shine's private consulting rooms in the town.

They are among about 30 men whose allegations against Shine are currently being investigated by the Medical Council.

When the council and its fitness-to-practice committee successfully appealed a High Court ban on its inquiry, the Supreme Court judgment overturning it was posted on the Courts Service official website last July containing the men's full names.

It is common practice for judges to order that complainants in child sexual abuse cases should not be publicly identified to protect their privacy.

Though the error was spotted by Courts Service staff and rectified after three days, two British legal websites continued to display the version of the judgment with the mens' full names for three months.

"When I found out about it last month, I rang the Courts Service several times before I got to talk to anybody and I wrote to the judge in the Supreme Court who gave the judgment but I got nowhere," says one of the 11 men.

"They said I should get more information about the other websites and get back to them but I felt that once they were notified it was their responsibility, not ours. It's been very upsetting."

When the Sunday Tribune contacted the Courts Service last Thursday about the continuing display of the men's names, they instructed the two British legal websites, Bailii.org and LexisNexis Butterworths, to remove the names and replace them with the men's initials. The names were gone from the websites by close of business on Thursday.

"The Courts Service would like to take this opportunity to apologise to anyone affected by this error," it said in a statement issued last Friday. "We are sorry for any hurt or disturbance which it may have caused."

The statement went on to say the Courts Service had searched the internet for the offending version of the judgment after being notified by a victim but "our searches did not disclose any such publication".

In October 2003, Michael Shine, aged 77, was acquitted on charges of indecent and sexual assault relating to six of the men. He has not been tried in the courts on other outstanding charges.

At least two civil cases for damages against him have been lodged in the High Court.

"It's not the first time this sort of error has happened. I'm sure it was a genuine mistake but it can cause a huge amount of distress," said Deirdre Fitzpatrick, advocacy director of One in Four.

"The apology from the Courts Service is crucial."