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IT'S not every father that can enjoy the privilege of working with one of his children; so when Bill Roberts' daughter Jane became a carpenter and joined him at his workbench, he was understandably a proud man.
But their partnership was to prove heartbreakingly short-lived, for Jane was to take her own life.
The dark secrets that lay behind that tragedy were laid bare yesterday in what is likely to be regarded as a legal milestone.
Jane's childhood world was shattered at the tender age of eight, when she was sexually abused in a public swimming pool. The crushing burden of her personal pain ultimately proved too much to live with.
She took her own life 18 years later.
Yesterday, Judge Alice Doyle uniquely found that her death would not have been unexpected due to a personality disorder seen as a result of her sexual abuse.
The judge was commendably crystal clear in her ruling: "Her illness was caused by child sexual abuse and as a result of that caused her suicide."
So finally after a heroic six year battle, the Roberts family was awarded €25,000, the maximum amount in a civil liability case.
But no-one was really talking about consolation or meaningful compensation yesterday, for as Mr Roberts explained: "It is difficult to move on as the devastation you feel after a suicide is very difficult to describe."
The family only found the strength to pursue their battle so that they might put their daughter "properly to rest".
Their spirit-sapping fight should be regarded as setting a benchmark for courage.
Mr Roberts explained why they kept going: "It's worth it for the unfortunate victim in a wrongful death case. It's for their memory, and for their relatives . . . there's not enough money in the world to compensate."
The family's solicitor then put the legal significance of their triumph in context: "The judiciary now realise where a psychiatric injury can be as fatal as a physical injury".
This ruling must ultimately be regarded as a rare victory for the victims of sexual abuse in this country of whom there has been far too many.