Something is rotten in the state of Ireland (Read Mod warning in first post)

Vorsprung

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/1217/1224260840003.html

DOZENS of people queued inside a Co Kerry courthouse yesterday to shake hands and sympathise with a man who was jailed for five years for sexually assaulting a woman in Listowel.

Danny Foley (35), a nightclub bouncer, Meen, Listowel, was sentenced to seven years with the final two suspended by Judge Donagh McDonagh in the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee. He had been found guilty two weeks ago of sexually assaulting a woman who was discovered by a Garda patrol in a semi-conscious state and naked from the waist down alongside a skip in a car park early on June 15th, 2008.

In her victim impact statement, the woman spoke of being “judged” in north Kerry, but said she was not sorry for telling the truth. Everyone in Listowel knew who she was, despite the press respecting her anonymity, she said.

“Even though my name has never been mentioned in the press, Listowel is not a big town and everyone knows it’s me,” the woman said. “I feel as if people are judging me the whole time. I’ve been asked by people I know if I am sorry for bringing Dan Foley to court. I am not sorry for it. All I did was tell the truth.”

About 50 people, mostly middle-aged and elderly men, queued yesterday to shake hands with the convicted man and hug him tearfully after he was brought from the cell to the dock, before Judge McDonagh entered the courtroom.

Before passing sentence, the judge criticised a character statement made by Castlegregory parish priest Fr Seán Sheehy. The priest had said Foley was always “respectful of women”, but Foley’s actions “gave the lie” to Fr Sheehy’s statement, the judge said.

Foley, who had been celebrating his 34th birthday on the night of the offence, had denied the charge. He told gardaí he had “found your wan” after he had gone to relieve himself near a skip at 3.50am. However CCTV footage showed him carrying her to the skip area. It also emerged he had met her earlier in a nightclub.

Judge McDonagh said the offence was at the middle to upper end of sexual assault. He noted that little or no remorse had been shown, nor any apology given to the victim, “surprisingly in the plea for mitigation”. He ordered that Foley be placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Apologies if this has been posted before.

This just makes me sick, and for me it's the cherry on the top of a heap of fraudulent and criminal acts which are applauded in Ireland. People like Michael Lowry, Padraig Flynn, that councillor who got the council to pay for a fence around his farm - they've all been re-elected with landslides, with people saying "ah shure, nothing wrong with that".

Now they're ****ing hugging a fella with tears in their eyes as he's about to be sentenced for a sexual assault. What ****ing planet are these guys living on?!

This forum is littered with threads discussing behaviour that resemebles this. Ireland needs to take a good hard look at itself and decide if this is the country she really wants to be.

/rant





Mod Warning:

All references to the guy being a rapist will be removed. He hasn't been convicted of rape but a sexual attack. To imply otherwise is libelous.

Also do not post facebook links unless they are your own.
__________________

Noffles

Idiots... utter IDIOTS.....

Bandit12

I'm not surprised in the slightest and that's the worrying thing.

Victor McDade

He'll get what's coming.

Don't drop the soap! No, wait, drop it every day you ****

galwayrush

Wow, what a way we're matured into a modern thinking society.:rolleyes:

Wazdakka

Rabble rabble rabble...


[/generic opinion for whatever viewpoint the thread is swinging in]

stovelid

Cabaal

Vorsprung wrote: »

This forum is littered with threads discussing behaviour that resemebles this. Ireland needs to take a good hard look at itself and decide if this is the country she really wants to be.

/rant

This hardly represents all of Ireland, it is clear there are some VERY serious issues in that community when they backup a man convicted of sexual assult proven by CCTV footage but yet they are not supportive of the women in the community.

Yet another nail for the catholic church as well....supporting the criminal instead of the victim.

R0ot

Right well I have no idea about this case or anything but small communities can be right some times. I am no advocating sexual assault however did you ever consider the court might have gotten it wrong?
I'm not saying that he is innocent as again I'm not familiar with the case. For all you know she may have made lots of other claims against other people before this and this was the one she was able to prove more evidence that he could.
News just in sometimes the innocent go to jail.

eirmail

He is a bouncer in a night club . More than likely he will still be a bouncer in the same night club when he gets out.
The lads just want him to remember they backed him so that he will let them in to the club after a session of pints.

namloc1980

Cute hoorism and getting one up on the system is a way of life in Ireland and is applauded. It's sad but that's the way it is. Although this brings things to a new low.

cournioni

Something is rotten in the state of Ireland alright... Who in their right mind would name their child Donagh McDonagh?

zeppe

Before passing sentence, the judge criticised a character statement made by Castlegregory parish priest Fr Seán Sheehy. The priest had said Foley was always “respectful of women”, but Foley’s actions “gave the lie” to Fr Sheehy’s statement, the judge said.

So, the f**kin church get involved too. Dont even start me on them.
Sure we're a great little country..

overexcitedaj

what the hell is this ? People from Tralee and listowel are sympathising with a man who sexualy asualted a woman. He is shown on cctv carrying her to that area yet he says he only found he there ?. WTF has happened to this country.
I actually cant figure this one out

Cabaal

R0ot wrote: »

Right well I have no idea about this case or anything but small communities can be right some times. I am no advocating sexual assault however did you ever consider the court might have gotten it wrong?
I'm not saying that he is innocent as again I'm not familiar with the case. For all you know she may have made lots of other claims against other people before this and this was the one she was able to prove more evidence that he could.
News just in sometimes the innocent go to jail.

He is seen on CCTV carrying her body to the dumpster, you thinkl this didn't happen?

It doesn't matter if she made previous false claims this is a actual fact

Taltos

I am amazed at this - first the church wades in - and we all know their track record now and then he gets all the aul cronnies shaking his hand before he is led away??? I mean really what has happened here.

This and the case from the north with the 18mt old child - surely it is time to look again at how badly off the rails this country has gone and what can be done about it.

Trying not to turn this into a rant against everything - but this article really really sickens me. Pure scum.

seamus

Wouldn't be the first time a priest supported a rapist.

It's very parochial old-Ireland stuff - don't say a bad word against the local GAA hero or some other similar bull****.

The population of Meen should be ashamed of themselves.

neilthefunkeone

seamus wrote: »

Wouldn't be the first time a priest supported a rapist.

Someone should bring the priest around the back of a dumpster and see if he changes his tune.. Sick bas*ards...

Bob_Harris

edit

My name is URL

Vorsprung wrote: »

This forum is littered with threads discussing behaviour that resemebles this.

/rant

It is?

MagicMarker

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/1217/1224260840003.html

DOZENS of people queued inside a Co Kerry courthouse yesterday to shake hands and sympathise with a man who was jailed for five years for sexually assaulting a woman in Listowel.

Danny Foley (35), a nightclub bouncer, Meen, Listowel, was sentenced to seven years with the final two suspended by Judge Donagh McDonagh in the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee. He had been found guilty two weeks ago of sexually assaulting a woman who was discovered by a Garda patrol in a semi-conscious state and naked from the waist down alongside a skip in a car park early on June 15th, 2008.

In her victim impact statement, the woman spoke of being “judged” in north Kerry, but said she was not sorry for telling the truth. Everyone in Listowel knew who she was, despite the press respecting her anonymity, she said.

“Even though my name has never been mentioned in the press, Listowel is not a big town and everyone knows it’s me,” the woman said. “I feel as if people are judging me the whole time. I’ve been asked by people I know if I am sorry for bringing Dan Foley to court. I am not sorry for it. All I did was tell the truth.”

About 50 people, mostly middle-aged and elderly men, queued yesterday to shake hands with the convicted man and hug him tearfully after he was brought from the cell to the dock, before Judge McDonagh entered the courtroom.

Before passing sentence, the judge criticised a character statement made by Castlegregory parish priest Fr Seán Sheehy. The priest had said Foley was always “respectful of women”, but Foley’s actions “gave the lie” to Fr Sheehy’s statement, the judge said.

Foley, who had been celebrating his 34th birthday on the night of the offence, had denied the charge. He told gardaí he had “found your wan” after he had gone to relieve himself near a skip at 3.50am. However CCTV footage showed him carrying her to the skip area. It also emerged he had met her earlier in a nightclub.

Judge McDonagh said the offence was at the middle to upper end of sexual assault. He noted that little or no remorse had been shown, nor any apology given to the victim, “surprisingly in the plea for mitigation”. He ordered that Foley be placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

WTF??

When I read the headline I assumed the man had been falsely accused or something.

I can't believe some people would actually sympathize with this guy. The poor woman is the victim here, to actually have the guts to go through with the case even in such a small town, and now she's made to feel like the bad guy.

tribulus

Wow, genuinely shocked this sort of carry on still goes on. There obviously still are people or maybe even whole small areas with a seriously backward/f*cked up way of thinking.

I can almost imagine how it is there. The woman is possibly known for getting around and then she finally gets what's coming to her* and all the backward, repressed folk are delighted....uuuggh.



*looking at it from their possible view, certainly not my view.

El Weirdo

Already a thread about this here.

Tabnabs

This is part of the same country we all live in, we should all share the shame of these actions. A truly disgusting act. The two things that struck me are that surely there was a garda in the courtroom who should have stopped any "interference" with the guilty party and what a surprise to see the local priest come out and defend a man guilty of a crime of a sexual nature. It must be in the first rule of fight priest club??! :mad:

Wazdakka

Taltos wrote: »

This and the case from the north with the 18mt old child - surely it is time to look again at how badly off the rails this country has gone and what can be done about it.

Does the fact that these nutcases are being caught, arrested and prosecuted not say something?
As soon as a sexual abuse conviction hits the paper the masses seem to get very uppity about "the state of the country these days"..

Have you any idea how low the conviction rate for sexual abuse crimes is in this country???
I love hearing about stories like this. It means that somebody got judged (hopefully correctly) and punished. It means that the system is working.

It's all of the failed convictions on technicalities, unreported cases and botched convictions that I'd worry about.

Intothesea

Vorsprung durch Rücksichtnahme. Meen, Listowel sounds like an ideal spot for a reality-TV version of Deliverance, though the protagonists would have nowhere to escape to

ETA: is the tearful commiseration not indicative of a community that's likely to resist putting the righteous finger on one of its own?

Nevyn

I'm not shocked, I am sickened but sadly I am not shocked.

http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/

16 Dec 2009
Listowel man sentenced to seven years for sexual assault

A Listowel man has been sentenced to seven years for sexually assaulting a woman. 35 year old Danny Foley, from Meen, Listowel, was found guilty earlier this month of the offence which took place in a town centre carpark on June 15th 2008.

The incident took place after the pair had left a nightclub. Mr Foley denied the charge saying sexual activity between the pair was consensual. In her victim impact statement, the woman told the court the sexual assault had led her to have suicidal thoughts on several occasions. She said she didn't hate Mr Foley as a person but hated what he had done to her.

In handing down sentence Judge Donagh McDonagh dismissed character witnesses including Fr Sean Sheehy who said Mr Foley didn't have an abusive bone in his body. The judge said Mr Foley had commenced a web of lies about the incident from the moment he was discovered by Gardai, kneeling over the semi-conscious woman who was naked from the waist down. He added no reasonable man could believe a woman, who had earlier complained of feeling sick from drink, could consent to sexual activity.

Around 50 family members and friends of Danny Foley were in court to hear Judge McDonagh hand down a seven year sentence - the final two of which were suspended. Mr Foley was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Nevyn

Wazdakka wrote: »

Does the fact that these nutcases are being caught, arrested and prosecuted not say something?
As soon as a sexual abuse conviction hits the paper the masses seem to get very uppity about "the state of the country these days"..

Have you any idea how low the conviction rate for sexual abuse crimes is in this country???
I love hearing about stories like this. It means that somebody got judged (hopefully correctly) and punished. It means that the system is working.

It's all of the failed convictions on technicalities, unreported cases and botched convictions that I'd worry about.

You mean that only 1 on 5 victims will so to the sexual assault unit.
Only 20% of them will report to the garda.
Only 5% of cases garda build are prosecuted by the Dept of public prosecution.
and only 7% of cases prosecuted result in a conviction and the attitude of juries plays a large part in this and until we stop blaming the victims in this country and take a hard line on what is consent and what is not ( lack of saying no is not consent or being too drunk to consent ) this will go on.

sparkling sea

This reaction is the very reson why so many women and men do not report the fact that they have been sexual assualted or raped. This then allows the rest of society to think that the incidents of these types of attacks are low.

You'd wonder if this was a once off, given that this guy was a bouncer and possible had other opportunities to attack other drunken women.

AnonoBoy

This is sickening. The guy was proven to be lying by CCTV images. He was found guilty unanimously.

It's f*cking disgraceful that knuckle-dragging f*ckwads like him are being hugged by 50 men before being sentenced. The only good thing to come out of this is that he's going to jail.

That priest on Newstalk this morning was a complete fool. Using the word 'alleged' when the man had been convicted as if there was still some doubt.

F*ck you Padre.

granturismo

El Weirdo wrote: »

Already a thread about this here.

Links to this thread. Were you trying to link to the Ladies Lounge thread where one poster suggested that the criminal's mother organised the queue of handshakers and huggers before the judge entered the court.

tribulus

I believe the two threads were merged, hence why it links here.

ejmaztec

Living near Listowel, but having little to do with anyone living there, and not knowing any of the people involved, I've gleaned that, despite the guilty verdict, the sympathisers don't believe the woman.

There was a similar case in this area a few years ago, where some guy got locked up for (I think) 7 years after being convicted of rape. Again, it was generally regarded by the locals that the guilty verdict was wrong (the victim wasn't a local).

This kind of thing probably happens everywhere, but the fact that there were people sobbing, slobbering and shaking hands outside the court, and a priest giving a character reference sends it nationwide.

deisemum

It's time we stopped kowtowing to the likes of the clergy and politicans and allowing them to give character references in court.

This case is like the film The Accused.

El Weirdo

granturismo wrote: »

Links to this thread. Were you trying to link to the Ladies Lounge thread where one poster suggested that the criminal's mother organised the queue of handshakers and huggers before the judge entered the court.

What tribulus said.

AnonoBoy

ejmaztec wrote: »

Again, it was generally regarded by the locals that the guilty verdict was wrong (the victim wasn't a local).

"Ah sure a local lad couldn't do anything wrong like. Sure isn't that they way, outsiders women coming in teasing our menfolk and then complaining when they get what's coming to them" :mad:

Did she manipulate the CCTV images and force the bouncer to lie to the Gardai? No.

I can't see how there's any doubt in this case. The jury certainly didn't think there was. The guy said he found her out by the dumpster despite being caught on camera carrying her out there.

To the 50 men who lined up to hug him and shake his hand - f*ck you. Every single one of you. Let's see any of these nimrods trying to explain their actions. They'll make as much of a fool of themselves as that priest did. They're all a pack of ignorant f*ckwits who deliberately did this as a public show. I honestly hope that bouncer gets a taste of his own medicine in prison.

The_Minister

Just a quick clarification.

The opinion of one priest does not not equate to the opinion of the Church.

The priest is allowed a fairly wide scope on non-theological matters, and will generally not be disciplined for comments relating to the local area. The Church may distance themselves from his remarks if they get enough attention, but obviously the Vatican is too big for anything else.


I wonder why everyone there believes him though?

Spore

There's a detailed piece on this on Radio One at the moment - I'm just gobsmacked listening to the report. 'A column of men filed up the the accused and shook his hand, some embracing him with tears in their eyes'. 'A posse gathered outside the Court House waiting for the victim who had to let out a side door and spirited away in a sqad car'. Jesus Christ. It's like something from Deliverance. Anyone for a spontaneous protest in Listowel against this type of inbred show-of-strength for a convicted rapist? Preferrable around the time of Listowel Writers Week for maximum impact?

Spore

The_Minister wrote: »

The opinion of one priest does not not equate to the opinion of the Church.

But that's the issue though, isn't it? There's been a climate in the church of defending and covering up rapists and paedophiles. In the prevailing climate of the Ryan Report it actually sounds like the Church's official position tbh.

deisemum

His girlfriend is being interviewed on the Gerry Ryan Show at the moment, she'll be back on after the 11am news.

ibarelycare

His girlfriend's on Gerry Ryan right now pleading his innocence and saying the trial was a farce. Talk with her continuing after 11 o'clock news.

ejmaztec

AnonoBoy wrote: »

"Ah sure a local lad couldn't do anything wrong like. Sure isn't that they way, outsiders women coming in teasing our menfolk and then complaining when they get what's coming to them" :mad:

Did she manipulate the CCTV images and force the bouncer to lie to the Gardai? No.

The woman involved in the old case wasn't a local, but, as far as I know, the woman in the recent case is. She could belong to a different tribe though.:eek:

baalthor

ejmaztec wrote: »

She could belong to a different tribe though.:eek:

What does this mean?

bigeasyeah

And whats anybody gonna do about it? Nothing,apart from piss and moan amongst themselves.Somethings rotten in Ireland alright-the people.
"Ara sure Id hate to complain"

AnonoBoy

I'm listening to that girl on 2FM now talking about it. I missed the start though and don't know if Gerry Ryan asked her about the CCTV images and the fact that he lied to the Gardai. Did anyone catch it?

I'd like to hear her explain that away.

deisemum

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I'm listening to that girl on 2FM now talking about it. I missed the start though and don't know if Gerry Ryan asked her about the CCTV images and the fact that he lied to the Gardai. Did anyone catch it?

I'd like to hear her explain that away.

She said he had no recollection of it but after seeing the cctv evidence he accepted it. His girlfriend is coming across as someone who's deluded.

SEPT 23 1989

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I'm listening to that girl on 2FM now talking about it. I missed the start though and don't know if Gerry Ryan asked her about the CCTV images and the fact that he lied to the Gardai. Did anyone catch it?

I'd like to hear her explain that away.

she does not believe there was any assault at all:eek:

AnonoBoy

deisemum wrote: »

She said he had no recollection of it but after seeing the cctv evidence he accepted it. His girlfriend is coming across as someone who's deluded.

So she's falling back on the 'oh he's a lovely lad' defence. He also claimed he found her out there by the dumpster and that was the first he saw of her despite the fact that he'd bought her drink earlier in the club. He conveniently forgot that too when he talked to the Gardai. If he forgot that too then maybe he just 'forgot' the bit where the girl tried to stop him taking her clothes off?

Palmerstown_guy

A bouncer? :rolleyes: This incident will look great on his well educated CV.

Sums up Ireland's justice system in two words -- Corrupt and useless.

Nevyn

http://www.irishexaminer.ie/ireland/people-queued-to-shake-this-sex-attackers-hand-108061.html

People queued to shake this sex attacker’s hand

By Donal Hickey Tralee

Thursday, December 17, 2009

IT was a scene that could have come from a John B Keane play – a bizarre gesture of support by some plain people of Kerry for a convicted sex offender.

Danny Foley, of Meen, Listowel, sat in the dock at the Circuit Criminal Court, in Tralee, yesterday, awaiting sentence for sexually assaulting a woman, having been found guilty by a jury almost two weeks ago.

A group of 50 people, mainly men and said to be neighbours and friends, trooped into the courtroom and marched up to the accused, in single file. Each man shook his hand – some hugged him warmly, with tears in their eyes. It was witnessed by the 24-year-old victim who cut a lonely figure in the front seat of the public gallery. Dressed in black, she sat with a female garda, a counsellor from the Kerry Rape Crisis Centre and a friend.

All the well-wishers then seated themselves in the public gallery. Judge Donagh McDonagh, who had not seen what happened, emerged from his chambers a few minutes later.

Foley, a 35-year-old bouncer who had been in custody since being convicted, then stood up.

Before handing down a seven-year prison sentence, with the last two years suspended, the judge told him he had lied about several things and there was something "particularly odious" about the allegation he and the victim had engaged in oral sex.

In the witness box, the victim calmly read from her victim impact statement in which she spoke of being judged in north Kerry for pursuing her case, but she was not sorry for telling the truth.

Parish priest, Fr Seán Sheehy, a character witness for Foley, said he had always struck him as having the highest respect for women, suggesting there wasn’t an abusive bone in Foley’s body.

The moment sentence was handed down, the accused’s mother began to scream loudly. The judge ordered she be removed from the courtroom.

Vera O’Leary, director of Kerry Rape Crisis Centre, called for a system to protect victims of sex offences from intimidation in a courtroom.

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.ie/ireland/people-queued-to-shake-this-sex-attackers-hand-108061.html#ixzz0Zwceq4Nx

Pure intimidation and bully tactics.

lisnsooz

Aunt of victim now on Gerry Ryan...this is all very shocking - that poor girl....