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Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Natasha O'Brien says her attacker is victim of Ireland's justice system
Campaigner Natasha O'Brien has said her attacker is a victim of Ireland's justice system. In 2022, the Limerick native was viciously attacked by Cathal Crotty, who was then a member of the Irish Defence Forces. He was given a three-year suspended sentence in June 2024. An appeal was lodged the following month, and the sentence was overturned by the Court of Appeal in January this year, and he was sentenced to two years in jail. But Natasha admitted Crotty was also a victim. "It's not his fault that the system is broken. If that judge last year had insured justice, my attacker would always have received justice. 'Like I am the primary victim but Crotty is the secondary victim now of the justice system because there was a media manhunt against him. That could all have been prevented by that judge and nobody would know his name if the judge hadn't made that decision and made that mistake. 'He has now been impacted by all of this as well. People can make really really serious mistakes and there should be accountability and punishment, but that doesn't mean that their entire life should be destroyed.' In her RTE One documentary, Natasha, which aired last Wednesday, she told viewers that the night she was attacked, she had been defended a passer by on the street who was being subjected to homophobic comments by Crotty and his pals. And despite the horrific assault that happened to her, Natasha said she would defend the person again. 'I would do it again to be honest. I don't see the point in not caring about other people. It's our job as human beings to support other human beings and if we can't do that, why are we even here? We are living our lives and if we can't stand up for others then what is the point.' Natasha said she feels like her own 'personal fight for justice' is now over and she hopes to make more documentaries. 'It has been an emotional rollercoaster but I'm slowly starting to heal now and I'm finally on a new chapter and journey. 'I feel like my own personal fights for justice are now over so now it's trying to go onto bigger things and trying to use this case as a great example of what shouldn't happen again. 'I'm really passionate about trying to continue along to make sure this doesn't happen again for others. I wanted to bare my soul. I'm really happy with how it turned out. 'There is massive potential to do more and work on another project exploring restorative justice and going down that route and how do we really achieve a sense of justice for anyone in the system. I'd love to potentially explore that too.' The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Law to change so father of peacekeeper killed in Lebanon can receive pension
The Government is set to change the law to facilitate the payment of a pension to an 84-year-old man whose son was killed while on peacekeeping duties with the Irish Defence Forces. John McNeela - the father of Private Michael McNeela, who was shot dead by Israeli-backed militia in Lebanon in 1989, was told by the State that he was not entitled to keep an allowance which was granted to his wife Kathleen - who passed away last year. The case was highlighted on RTÉ's This Week earlier this month, and raised in the Dáil by the Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú. At the time Mr McNeela said he felt "very let down" by the decision of the State not to allow the pension to transfer to him. Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris said this was a "very hard case". He described it as "mean spirited and unfair" and said he "found it wrong and it needs to be fixed." He said that following a meeting with the Secretary General of his Department the Government had decided to change the law so that the pension allowance could be paid to Mr McNeela. "It will require legislative change and that will take a bit of work" he said. The Tánaiste said his officials are now looking to see if they could introduce the changes with the passing of a larger piece of defence legislation in the weeks ahead.
Irish Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Natasha O'Brien says online trolls called her 'professional victim' after attack
Campaigner Natasha O'Brien has told how social media trolls described her as a "professional victim" after she was attacked by a former Irish soldier. In 2022, the Limerick native was viciously attacked by Cathal Crotty, who was then a member of the Irish Defence Forces. He was given a three-year suspended sentence in June 2024. An appeal was lodged the following month, and the sentence was overturned by the Court of Appeal in January this year, and he was sentenced to two years in jail. Speaking ahead of her documentary, Natasha, which airs tonight on RTE One, she opened up about the horrendous online hate she received after Crotty was sentenced, with one troll labelling her "a professional victim". She told The Irish Mirror: "I've been relentlessly trolled in everything I do in every post I post, every video or media interview. Anything and everything, there's just always so much negativity. "There was a really interesting comment – 'she is a professional victim'. I don't even know what that means but apparently, I'm a professional victim. "Or I hope she's going to donate all the money she makes from the documentary? What money? This has been out of my time. I've been doing this for the cause." She also saw posts discussing her LinkedIn credentials with Natasha saying it wasn't even her page. "That's not even my LinkedIn. We don't even look similar," she said. Natasha also wants to make it clear that she was paid a "minor fee" for helping make her documentary, which airs tonight at 9.35pm. "There was a minor fee, and it wouldn't even cover 30 hours of work, and I put in 10 months of this. It's not even a week's wages and I've put months into this. "It's not about the money and these film projects and their subjects, they do it because it's an important story and message that needs to be heard and seen. It was important for me to do it because I suppose I've been judged in so many ways, and I thought it was time to tell people this is who I am. "Of course it's a personal journey. I invited the cameras into very vulnerable moments." Natasha said she hopes when people watch her documentary, they will stop judging victims on how they look. "I just think that it is 2025 and the time for judging a victim on how they looked is absolutely insane. "If you actually think that how someone looks is going to give you any indication of what they are going through, you're away with the fairies. "You haven't a clue if you're seriously going to judge someone's appearance over the bucket load of trauma and all the struggles they've gone through and you're going to look at their appearance and judge them by that. "I totally couldn't care less about that. It's time we stop judging books by their covers." Natasha also spoke about the hurt her own family went through as they tried to help her heal from the heinous crime. She said: "I really lost a part of myself, and my mam was just always so desperate to support me and help me to find myself again but there were lots of pieces of me that were just destroyed. They weren't coming back and when I was filming, I got an insight into what it was like for my mam to have a daughter going through this and how it really affected her and impacted her. "It wasn't just me suffering, there were others around me suffering too. We forget that." Speaking about her documentary, she said it was important that the programme explored the leniency of the justice system and not just her own story. "It was really important to me at the start, that when we got my director on board… I said that I had told my story so many times, I'm sick of telling my story and I'm sure lots of people are sick of hearing my story so I don't want to waste an hour of prime-time television telling the same thing over again. "I don't want to waste this opportunity to talk about the past. It's not me. "We wanted to show that while something that happened to us can affect us, it doesn't define us and that was really important when we were filming this documentary." Natasha added that she finally feels like she is embarking on a "new chapter and journey." "It has been an emotional rollercoaster but I'm slowly starting to heal now and I'm finally on a new chapter and journey. "I feel like my own personal fights for justice are now over so now it's trying to go onto bigger things and trying to use this case as a great example of what shouldn't happen again. "I'm really passionate about trying to continue along to make sure this doesn't happen again for others. "I wanted to bare my soul. I'm really happy with how it turned out. "There is massive potential to do more and work on another project exploring restorative justice and going down that route and how do we really achieve a sense of justice for anyone in the system. I'd love to potentially explore that too," she added. Natasha airs tonight on RTE One at 9.35pm
Irish Independent
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Letters: Who will protect Ireland when we cannot, and will not, protect ourselves?
Instead, as part of the Government's response to world affairs, we use our neutral status not to invest in security and defence. We choose this path in the hope that it will buffer us from engaging in any overt acts abroad to defend other sovereign states or democracies, but also in the expectation that others will come to our pitiful defence. For years, the Irish Defence Forces have been underfunded, understaffed and underequipped by successive ministers and governments. An example of this is our national waters. These should be patrolled 24/7 against the insidious and often blatant Russian navy and its spy ships. Yet we can barely man one ship, never mind two, out of a fleet of six. Then we have the Air Corps losing technicians, air-traffic controllers and pilots to the private sector. No investment in jet fighters. Why? We have an army that has lost a large number of well-trained soldiers who are being paid a pittance and work with equipment that would not fulfil any mandate if it came to the defence of our lands. Not one tank or missile launcher. We have a police service that should, to all intent and purposes, be concentrating on policing without the added portfolios of security and intelligence. There should be a separate, independent and fully funded secret service with the technology and staffing that knows what is happening in advance of any possible threats to our State. Who will protect us if we can't protect ourselves and why has there been so much resistance to our security and defence in a world that is tearing itself apart? Sadly, we have too many non-combatants, with little or no frontline experience in security and defence, who are making decisions that could hugely impact us as we face a period of global uncertainty. Christy Galligan, Letterkenny, Co Donegal No point in dialogue with regime whose stated aim is to wipe Israel off the map Micheál Martin and Simon Harris suggest diplomacy and dialogue is needed with Iran. This mindset shows their total lack of understanding of the situation. Iran's stated aim is to wipe Israel off the world map, which means annihilating its entire population. Iran cannot and must not be appeased. Joe Dixon, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan Office of the President belongs in another era, its cost is needed in this one As the country faces another costly presidential election, one wonders if the Republic of Ireland needs a president and whether it can afford to sustain what is largely a ceremonial office. For me, the answer to both questions is an emphatic no. The non-executive and outdated office is weighed down by protocols and formalities, which are irrelevant in a modern republic grappling with very serious housing, health, criminal and international issues. The president holds office for an inordinately long seven years, and can be elected for a second term. Unlike a general or local election, it is almost impossible for an ordinary Irish citizen to contest this election, as a nomination requires the support of at least 20 members of the Oireachtas or at least four local authorities. In addition to expense-free living in the opulent Áras, the president is entitled to an annual salary of €332,017, nearly seven times the average working salary of €47,967. Presidential staff and ceremonial functions, at home and abroad, cost the taxpayer at least €5 million per annum. Some very fine people, including the current incumbent, have held the office of president. But, in my opinion, the position is now unsustainable and the money spent in electing and maintaining a president of Ireland is urgently needed elsewhere. Billy Ryle, Tralee, Co Kerry 250 million ways to make a miserable existence that small bit more bearable The recent €250m EuroMillions win reminds me of an old adage: Money can't buy you happiness, but it makes being unhappy a bit more bearable. Quite. Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin In a post-truth world, media literacy should be mandatory in all schools I am often asked these days by all sorts of people: Where do you get your news from? Who are your trusted sources? In this age of disinformation, alternative facts, post-truthism and the evisceration of mainstream media by the internet, the economics of the newspaper industry have been virtually destroyed. I have to say there are valiant efforts out there by some of the newspapers, but I often find myself asking: Is real investigative reporting on top of the totem pole any more? I also wonder about the editorial standards vis-a-vis fact-checking of stories. There is so much information out there from so many different sources, one wonders how one decides what's true. Perhaps a deeper philosophical question would be: in the world we now live in, is there such a thing any more as objective truth? When one looks at the Trump administration, there appears to be many people who clearly do not believe truth is worth finding out, let alone speaking. Propaganda, misinformation and fake news have the potential to polarise public opinion along with promoting violent extremism and hate speech, resulting in the undermining of democracies. I believe it is vital for schools to provide students with a solid education on media and information literacy as part of the curriculum. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary Tax bill for council's land hoarding is sweet karma for those who created it The Connaught Tribune recently reported the dismay of Mayo councillors at the €385,000 they must pay Revenue for their unused residential zoned land. If a council with an annual budget of €213m cannot make use of its lands, what hope is there for mere mortal private developers without the fairy godmother of the Exchequer to fund them? The Land Development Agency is seeking powers to buy private land, but this is a distraction from the real land hoarding by the many arms of the State itself. Politicians created the ridiculous Residential Zoned Land Tax – that they find their own councils on the receiving end is a most pleasing karma indeed. Alex Wilsdon, Dublin Road, Kilkenny
Times
22-06-2025
- Times
‘Natasha O'Brien had courage to ruffle feathers and be difficult'
Kathleen Harris, the documentary maker, first heard the name Natasha O'Brien in June last year, when the young woman stood outside Limerick circuit criminal court to speak against the lenient sentence that her attacker had been given. On May 24, 2022, O'Brien had been brutally beaten unconscious by Cathal Crotty, who was then an active-duty member of the Irish Defence Forces. The now-retired Judge Tom O'Donnell imposed a fully suspended three-year sentence on Crotty, and his sentencing remarks were roundly criticised as he took into account the impact that a custodial sentence would have on the 22-year-old's army career. O'Brien, however, did not go quietly. The subsequent public outcry sparked a wave of protests across the country in support of her, and she became an inadvertent spokeswoman and activist for victims of gender-based violence. Now, her quest for justice is being told in Natasha, a documentary directed by Harris. 'Like a lot of people in the country, I was shocked to see the story,' she recalls. 'I saw Natasha in the news like everyone else, and was very surprised to see how outspoken she was. We see footage of victims going in and out of court, but we don't often hear them speaking the way that Natasha spoke. So she caught my attention.' The American-born film-maker was approached by the producers Elaine Stenson and Stephen McCormack. They brought her on board to document the impact that the assault had on O'Brien's life, as well as the appeal against Crotty's sentence, which was heard in January and resulted in him being jailed for two years. 'I'm very drawn to stories about women and about activists, and it was a story that I thought was important,' Harris says. 'When I met Natasha, she was so keen to do a film. She saw it as an opportunity. And she kept saying to me, 'Kathleen, I want to be vulnerable. You need to push me to be vulnerable. I want this to be raw, I want people to see everything, I want to let it all hang out.' That was her attitude.' The film was originally envisaged as an investigation of the criminal justice system in Ireland, but soon morphed into something more personal. For Stenson, the associate producer and driving force behind the documentary, O'Brien's charisma dictated that shift. 'Natasha annoys people,' Stenson says. 'She doesn't apologise. That upsets people. It upsets people when a woman demands attention and keeps demanding attention.' Harris, a former Irish Times video journalist, has form in such projects, having previously directed the documentaries Birdsong and Growing Up at the End of the World — both of which wove personal stories together with wider themes, including environmental activism and climate activism. At the film's core are the reverberations that the assault and its aftermath had on O'Brien's life, particularly on her relationship with her mother, Anne, which became visibly strained at points. • Cast convicts out of army, urges Natasha O'Brien 'Those scenes are hard to watch,' Harris admits. 'There is a lot of pain there, but they were willing to put that out there and allow it to be on camera, and we tried to be as delicate with it as we could. It is difficult to watch, but I think it also lets us see how some of this stuff plays out between loved ones. 'At one point in the film, Natasha explicitly talks about the ripple effect of violence and of trauma — she even mentions the taxpayers who had to pay for her medical bills. This isn't something we think about. We think that a victim of crime is the face on the news, but there's a long shadow there,' Harris adds. 'I've worked in news for years,' Stenson says, 'and there are some stories that need to be told in something more than three minutes, and some people who need to be on a bigger screen. 'Natasha is a tough woman but she also has her vulnerabilities. She wants to tell her story but doing so is a form of retraumatisation. Natasha thought that she was going to die during that attack, and in making this documentary we had to ask her to relive that, over and over.' In one especially striking scene O'Brien meets two other victims of gender-based violence, Maev McLoughlin Doyle and Bláthnaid Raleigh, and they discuss the fallout from their respective cases. It portrays them not just as one-dimensional 'victims' but as women who continue to feel the ramifications of their trauma in their everyday lives. It also illustrates how lacking the system is when it comes to supporting victims. At various points, a frustrated O'Brien is seen on the phone begging the director of public prosecutions for an update on the forthcoming appeal and complaining about how she is learning information about her case from the media. Despite its largely personal focus, the film does touch upon the legal system and explores the process of restorative justice, which allows the victim to have a conversation with the perpetrator in the hope of gaining closure and potentially reducing the risk of them reoffending. Although it has proven success rates, it is a rarely used option in Ireland. 'We do talk in the film about how you never get to address the perpetrator when you're a victim,' Harris says. 'You never get to actually say to the person, 'This is what you did to me,' and you don't get to ask them questions — and they also don't have to explain themselves or apologise. Those are all things that are critical to moving beyond trauma.' Restorative justice is offered in less than 1 per cent of cases in Ireland, she says, but points out that O'Brien was not sure if it was something she would have wanted. 'Like she says in the film, it would have been daunting because you sit across from the person who did this thing to you, but as she also said, going through the court system was daunting as well.' Tackling such a complex story has had an impact on Harris's life too, including affording her a new empathy for her relationship with her mother, because 'in part, this is a film that is about a mother and a daughter'. 'I'd also say that the film was meant to be a celebration of women, and of women like Natasha in particular — who stick their head above the parapet, who have that courage to speak out and ruffle feathers and be 'difficult'. I think I did a lot more of that when I was younger, but as I've gotten older I've stayed quiet more. So I think, going forward, when there are moments I see something that's not quite right or not OK, I will think of Natasha and her courage.' • It's time for men to speak out about the savagery against women Harris says she hopes people who see the film are inspired by O'Brien. 'I hope other victims and other women see it and think, 'OK, she could do that; I can do it too' — if it's right for them, of course. And I think she'll make people feel not so alone going through that process, and that they're not a weirdo for feeling all these weird, contradictory, messy emotions in the wake of something horrible that happened to them.' Stenson agrees. 'Natasha is going to be on our screens again this week. And that's going to annoy people again. Natasha is unfiltered, so unashamedly herself. You don't know what she is going to say next. She doesn't care what you think of her. And that's what makes her so remarkable.' Natasha airs on RTE1 on Wednesday, June 25, at 9.35pm
