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The Journal
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Woman reports being forced to remove hijab at protest camp outside of refugee centre in Wicklow
GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING after a woman reported that she was forced to remove her hijab by men at a protest camp outside of a centre that has been housing Ukrainians and international protection applicants. The woman was herself once a resident at the Avon Resort in Blessington, Co Wicklow. She was visiting a friend who lives there on Saturday 19 July, when she says she was stopped by four men at an encampment-style protest that has been ongoing for the last month. The woman said she was asked to remove her hijab to prove that she 'was not a man', according to a volunteer who has supported her in the aftermath of the incident. She said that as she was alone, she felt too scared to pull her phone out to call for help, and was 'forced to comply' with the request. She was left shaken and upset following the incident. A garda spokesperson told The Journal that an investigation into the incident is ongoing. 'Gardaí are investigating an alleged incident of public order that occurred at a premises in Blessington, Co. Wicklow at approximately 4:30pm on Saturday 19th July,' the spokesperson said. A member of the Blessington Welcomes group was asked to accompany the woman to the local garda station in the area on the following Wednesday, when she filed a complaint of harassment. Advertisement A spokesperson for the group said that a female member of An Garda Síochana was 'very supportive' of the woman during the complaints process. They added that the woman was left 'very distressed' by the incident. 'Some people have cars and are able to drive in and out of the entrance of the Avon, but for others who don't, every time they need to get groceries or to pick up their kids, they are confronted by this round-the-clock protest, and it's extremely difficult for them,' they said. Phil Evans, a local man who often walks past the resort, told The Journal that he also made a report to the Gardaí after 'homophobic slurs' were made towards him by men who were at the protest camp. 'I passed the camp around three weeks ago and I read signs that protestors had up, and I was pretty disturbed by them. They associated asylum seekers with crime. I asked a man at the camp if he was local, and he said he was, and he asked me what I thought of the camp. 'I told him I thought it was pretty terrible, and he was surprised and asked me why, and I explained that I live locally and I work in theatre, and we have done some projects with people living in IPAS centres. 'He became aggressive towards me and started shouting homophobic slurs at me and threatening violence. As I was walking away two other men began to shout at me too. I decided to report the incident because I was worried about other who have to walk past and, and those who have to go in,' Evans said. Sinn Féin TD John Brady said in May that the Avon Hotel would no longer be used to house Ukrainians and could instead be used to house international protection applicants. He said that he understood that the hotel was being offered to provide accommodation to asylum seekers under an agreement with a two year duration. He called for a halt to any decision to change the use of the hotel. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
30-06-2025
- RTÉ News
Garda's actions were 'calculated, predatory', court told
A garda who impersonated a female colleague online and encouraged strangers to come to her house to rape her and her young daughters, will be sentenced next month. Shane Flanagan, who resigned from the force in March this year, admitted two counts of inciting two men to rape the woman, who had been a friend, on dates between November and December 2020. He also admitted six counts of endangering the woman and her teenage daughters through his communications online and he pleaded guilty to possessing four images of child sexual abuse material. Details of the case were revealed today during the sentence hearing for Flanagan. The court heard the woman, who had considered Flanagan a friend, was in significant shock when she discovered he was behind the communications. She told the court it was not just a betrayal of friendship, it was a "calculated, predatory act of violence", which had left lifelong scars for her and her daughters. Detective Sergeant Paul English told prosecuting counsel Anne Marie Lawlor that both Flanagan and the woman had been serving members of An Garda Síochana. He agreed that there had been no relationship or sexual involvement of any kind between them. Flanagan set up a profile on a Canadian based website which allows people to interact with each other about their sexual fetishes. The court heard a subgroup on this website, is called "CNC" or consensual non-consent where women give advance consent to men to come to their homes to rape them. Flanagan set up the profile using real photos and information relating to his female friend. He also set up a fake Facebook account for the same purpose. The communications were only discovered in December 2020, when one of the men who had been discussing the logistics of going to the woman's house with the fake account, contacted the woman's real facebook profile to make sure she was really consenting Flanagan was linked with the accounts through his phone number and details found on his laptop. Ms Lawlor said when he was caught, Flanagan's contention was that this was all "harmless role play". But she told the court he had provided details including the woman's Eircode and the make and model of her car to allow men to gain access to her address. Details of the conversations between Flanagan, purporting to be the woman, and men on the fetish website and Facebook messenger, were read to the court during a lengthy sentence hearing. The court heard two men had been identified and had provided statements to gardaí. Some men had been identified but had not provided statements and others had not been identified at all. Some of the men lived in the US and the UK whereas others lived near the small rural town where the woman was based. The first man believed the woman was fully consenting to him coming to her home to rape her. He had confirmed details of her address with the profile operated by Flanagan and they had got to the details of using the protection and whether the woman would go on the pill. The truth only emerged when he contacted the real woman on Facebook to satisfy himself that she was consenting. He told gardaí that whoever had done this "must really hate" the woman to have gone to the lengths he had gone to. In the messages, Flanagan, pretending to be the woman, described repeatedly how his fantasy was to have someone stalk and track her, to break into her house while she was sleeping or take her while she was out jogging. There were "quite extraordinarily detailed descriptions" in the messages of what the man was going to do to the woman. Flanagan provided a second man with the woman's Eircode. This man said he believed the woman was fully consenting and was "shocked and astounded" at how dangerous it was for her. Flanagan had invited him to the woman's house but the man could not make it at short notice. Flanagan messaged other men on the fetish website, and in some cases sent them Google Street View images of the woman's house along with her Eircode. He also talked about being interested in cannibalism and being beheaded. He repeatedly mentioned the woman's young teenage daughters. And with some of the users he arranged dates for the rapes to happen. He also sent some men screenshots of the route the woman regularly took jogging in the evenings, which he had taken from a running app. On Facebook, he discussed "cannibal scenarios" and fantasies in relation to killing and "cooking" the kids while sending users genuine photographs of the woman and her children. He also discussed giving sleeping tablets to the teenagers and indulged in extensive discussion about what would be done to all three. The images of child pornography found on his laptop involved children aged from eight to 15 as well as an animated image. When gardaí searched the man's home and devices they found almost 700 images of the woman as well as 219 images of her that had been digitally altered to show her gagged, bound, naked or prepared to be cooked. In a victim impact statement, the woman's eldest daughter said she had known the man for as long as she could remember and had gone to GAA matches with him. She said he had been a close family friend for so long and the loss of trust was shocking. She said what had happened had affected her sense of safety, her trust in people and her ability to enjoy life like she used to. In her own statement, the woman said Flanagan had betrayed her, her children and her family by plotting to have her and her two daughters attacked and raped, and sharing the most intimate details of their lives with strangers online. While pretending to be a trusted colleague and friend she said he planned for men to find them and carry out acts of unspeakable violence. She said she no longer felt safe in her home and suffered from crippling anxiety and panic attacks and was dependent on medication and counselling just to function. She said she worried about how this would shape the rest of her daughters' lives and said no sentence could undo the harm caused. She said he had taken the love of her career from her. She had been proud of her uniform but her sense of purpose and pride had now gone. She said it was not just a betrayal of friendship but a calculated predatory act of violence which had left lifelong scars for her and her daughters. Flanagan's defence counsel Padraig Dwyer said he had written a letter apologising to the woman and her children. Flanagan said he felt deep guilt and shame and knew no words could undo the immense pain and trauma he had caused. Mr Dwyer said psychological and probation reports found Flanagan's expressions of remorse and shame were genuine and placed him at a low to medium risk of reoffending. Mr Dwyer said even though the court had heard about the sinister and darker aspects of Flanagan's character, his sister said he never came across as anything other than a gentle, empathic, loyal, kindhearted person with a great sense of humour. The court heard Flanagan now lived a lonely, isolated life with no job or friends and very little by way of social contact. He was aware he had serious sexual problems and wanted to address them. Judge Eileen Creedon said she would sentence Flanagan on 29 July.
