Ireland – Mass Protests Over Rugby Rape Trial

Protests took place all over Ireland for a second day over the outcome of a rape trial involving two famous rugby players which has enticed the nation for weeks.

Several thousand rallied in all major cities of Ireland including Dublin, Belfast, Galway, and Cork.

Already in Dublin, some 4,000 protesters gathered outside City Hall, which is highly unusual in a country where you can be sued for defamation or not agreeing with a Court’s verdict.

People had made banners that read "#IBelieveHer" and "#MeToo". The chants were "two, four, six, eight, consent is not up for debate," and "my black dress does not mean yes."

The outcry is over the unanimous acquittal of Ireland rugby internationals Mr. Paddy Jackson and Mr. Stuart Olding, who were both accused of rape by the same woman. The events took place in 2016.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I was her when I was 16.<br><br>Another rugby prick whose privilege knows no bounds took my virginity unconscious. <br><br>Then threatened me in to silence with his solicitor dad when I told the truth. <br><br>This is being a woman in Ireland.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IBelieveHer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IBelieveHer</a></p>&mdash; Fionnuala Moran (@FionnualaMoran) <a href="https://twitter.com/FionnualaMoran/status/978971428929376256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Furthermore, after the acquittal verdict, Irish senator Aodhan O'Riordain had said on Twitter that he doubted the verdict and one of the lawyers representing Mr. Paddy Jackson threatened to sue him. After Senator O'Riordain deleted the tweet subsequently, people were infuriated even more and the hashtag #SueMeTooPaddy gained huge traction on Twitter.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IBelieveHer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IBelieveHer</a> is currently the number one trending topic in Ireland. <a href="https://t.co/jnEhtVM1k7">https://t.co/jnEhtVM1k7</a></p>&mdash; Her.ie (@Herdotie) <a href="https://twitter.com/Herdotie/status/978976119876616192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Mr. Jackson's lawyers KRW Law explained: "We will not hesitate to repeat similar legal action against anyone, who deliberately or otherwise, sees fit to attack our client.”

"We are examining carefully every item of social media commentary which seeks to challenge the integrity of the jury's full endorsement of our client's innocence. High court proceedings will issue shortly in both Belfast and Dublin."

Source:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/30/rugby-trial-two-accused-revealing-womans-identity-irish-players