Protest against soldier’s assault conviction

Protests have been held in four cities across the Republic of Ireland after a serving soldier was given a suspended sentence for attacking a woman on a Limerick street.

Cathal Crotty, 22, punched Natasha O’Brien, 24, six times after she asked him to stop shouting homophobic slurs.

He later boasted about the incident on social media

Ms O’Brien’s injuries included a broken nose; Crotty criticized the Irish justice system after escaping from prison.

Protests in support of Ms O’Brien were held in Limerick, Cork, Dublin and Galway on Saturday.

Ms O’Brien, who joined around 500 protesters in Bedford Street, Limerick, said: “I chose to speak out because I can’t imagine the impact this has on other victims.

“That’s enough. It’s time to end it. They [the Department of Justice] Don’t listen to us.

Crotty was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation.

Ms O’Brien said of the quote: “What about me? What about my life? What about so many victims like me?”

One of the speakers at the Limerick rally was Edith Busteed of the socialist feminist movement ROSA.

“This has happened again and again,” she told Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

“We organize so many protests with ROSA but this is a systemic issue, systemic gender violence and it has always been justified, particularly in the Irish court system and justice system

“The survivors of this attack deserve justice, so we are here today to advocate for that.”

Giving evidence in court, Ms O’Brien said she suffered nightmares and panic attacks.

The judge described the attack as “cowardly, vicious and unprovoked”.

However, he said the defendant’s guilty plea “must be admitted” and told the court he had “no doubt” that if Crotty was jailed his Army career would be over.

“This is not justice,” O’Brien said Thursday while speaking outside the court.

She added that Crotty had pledged to “protect Irish citizens and civilians” when he joined the Irish Defense Forces.

Ms O’Brien told BBC Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra on Friday that she would not have gone to court “if this was just about me”.

“I really, really hope that I can set a good example that when you do bad things, you have consequences – but our system has shown that it is broken,” she added.

Ms O’Brien, who was not known to the attacker, said she wanted to come forward and “make her voice heard” because so many women had been “traumatised”.

She added: “It’s not just this one person, there are many, many young people in Ireland doing this and there’s really no justice in it.”

Ireland’s Justice Minister Helen McEntee praised Ms O’Brien for her courage in coming forward, adding that Republic of Ireland prosecutors could appeal against the sentence.

Ms O’Brien said on Friday the appeal was “the least of our worries”.

She said she wants to see cultural and legal changes.

“My concern is allowing this to happen,” she said.

“What’s wrong with the Irish Defense Forces? What’s wrong with the justice system? Why are they failing their victims?”

Tom Clonan, a senator in the Irish House of Representatives and a former Irish Army officer, said the Irish Defense Forces had a problem with gender-based violence.

However, he added that every private and public organization or institution will have people capable of committing acts of violence within its ranks.

The Irish Defense Forces said in a statement on Friday that internal proceedings had begun following the soldier’s conviction.

It said it “unequivocally condemns any behavior by service members that goes against or does not reflect our values”.

It also praised the “bravery of the victims”.