Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

NZ and Australia have horrible histories of violence against women, especially domestic violence, going back decades. Unfortunately maori, aborigines and PIs are massively over represented in the numbers. As long as I can remember there has been a debate/argument of zero tolerance vs it's a cultural issue and second chances.

If the appointment doesn’t go through because of something in the past that was decided judicially not to be prosecuted then Your doing a person out of a job when they may have done nothing wrong.

If the appointment goes through your potentially employing someone who was involved in a rape but for whatever reason - evidence - witness etc they avoided prosecution.

In the absence of knowing exactly what happened during the night in question, or it being proven in court it’s impossible to say what happened.

There have been plenty of people got away with rapes, and there have been plenty of false accusations of rape against people.

The only thing I know for certain is Mick ODriscoll and Billy Holland are as honest and as Munster as you get and if they see issue with it enough to resign - which may be because of the lack of consultation as much as the candidate - then this entire process, the people involved and the candidate needs massive scrutiny.

was charged then charges were dropped.

I'm not going to deny this guy a chance to work, 30 years after the fact, in a country on the other side of the world after he has worked for 30 years and been back to SA numerous times.

some real high and mighty's posting here.

 the IRFU advising against the appointment only to find the contract was already signed before they knew about it

Where was that reported? That would be pretty mental.

For those disgusted by the hiring - what is the right process when charges are dropped or someone is found not guilty of a horrible act?

Where can the accused work, where should they work? Why should they not work for the likes of Munster Rugby?

I don't mean this to be provocative. I'm genuinely trying to understand a perspective that I don't have.

Have you read any articles about the case?

"The woman said she withdrew the rape charges after consultations with her lawyer, the police and the prosecutor. She believed the prosecutor felt she would not convey a good impression in the witness box.

She kept breaking down during the pre-trial questioning, she was having nightmares and getting professional help on a regular basis but could not come to terms with what had happened to her, specifically due to the fact that three people could have been involved and that she could not remember what had happened. It had ruined her life, she said.

”They thought that I was an unreliable witness due to my mental state, that I would break down and not be able to withstand cross-examination. I felt let down, I was astounded, horrified. I thought, is there no justice?”

She denied any deals had been cut with Randle’s lawyers or that money had been involved."

They didnt drop the case because they thought he was innocent.

All Irish rugby as an overall entity can do is decide who they do and don't hire. The IRFU don't control whether he can work as a binman or a carpenter or an accountant or whatever. Munster obviously don't have an issue with hiring an alleged rapist, but given professional sport is so wrapped up in how fans have an emotional bond with the teams they follow, I would be pretty disgusted if Leinster hired this guy. It makes it a lot harder to stand/sit on the sideline and cheer for the team.

The IRFU have taken a stand on this in the past with Jackson and Olding. They were acquitted of the same crime, but the IRFU decided they'd never play professional rugby here again.