Local women in Galway say they have been left “terrified” and “fearful” and “reduced to warning each other by Whats App” after an alleged gang rape at the main train station in Galway on August 1st, the final day of the Galway Races.
Two men – a 27-year-old man and 25-year-old – were each charged this week at Galway District Court with the rape of a female on August 1st at the Ceannt Railway Station car-park and also with falsely imprisoning the same woman at the same date and location. Proceedings were explained to each of the men through an Arabic interpreter.
Now, women who spoke to Gript today said that they feel unprotected and afraid, and are querying why the case is not being more widely covered. The Connaught Tribune, who appear to be the only local media platform that covered the case, reported:
Each man is charged with the rape of a female on August 1 at Ceannt Railway Station car-park, contrary to section 48 of the Offences Against The Person Act and section 2 (1) of the Criminal Law Rape Amendment Act, as amended by section 21 of the Criminal Law Rape Amendment Act.
The men are also charged with falsely imprisoning the same alleged victim on the same date and at the same location, an offence contrary to section 15 of the Non Fatal Offences Against The Person Act.
One woman, Emma Ní Chonaill, who spoke to Gript today said: “I’m living here 40 years, and I’ve never heard of a gang rape in Galway before.”
“Women are terrified. I don’t want my daughter going into town, how can we feel safe when this is alleged to have happened?”, she said.
“The station is right in the city centre and its a really busy station,” she said. “We’re all thinking about the alleged victim and hoping she can recover but women feel they are being left in the dark”.
“We’re sending the only media report I’ve seen – from the Connaught Tribune – around on What’s App to our female friends and family members to warn them, and most of them hadn’t even heard the story and the allegations and are really shocked because this is terrifying,” she said.
“This is what we are reduced to – warning each other by Whats App: we’re looking to protect each other because we don’t feel protected,” she added. We’ve had no public statement from Gardaí, and we feel like we’re in the dark.”
Gript contacted An Garda Síochána asking for a statement on the case, and will update this news story if a statement is received.
Another woman said it was “just deeply shocking and frightening that the court is hearing this happened at the station. I’d say that women really are fearful,” she said. “It’s completely unacceptable, we can’t be afraid in our own city.”
“I’m genuinely afraid to go down to the station now,” she said, adding that if the allegations were true, women would not “feel safe anywhere”.
“We all use the train station and we use the car park and we are so upset,” she said. “It actually sickens me, and the lack of coverage is appalling. Why aren’t the media interested?”
She noted that what she said was “a key element” was missing from RTÉ’s report on the court hearing.