June 22 () –
Thousands of people took to the streets of Ireland’s main cities this Saturday to protest the release of a soldier who brutally beat a woman in the street who had reproached him for homophobic insults.
The protests have been held in Cork, Dublin, Galway or Limerick, precisely where the events occurred in 2022. The soldier Cathal Crotty, now 22 years old, attacked Natasha O’Brien, 24 years old, and beat her until she was unconscious.
“I chose to speak because I couldn’t even imagine the impact on other victims. Enough is enough. It’s time for it to end,” O’Brien herself stated in her speech at the Limerick demonstration. The case has become a symbol of gender violence in the country.
Crotty was released this week after a sentence granting him conditional release was published. O’Brien has denounced that this judicial decision has caused him new trauma.
The protests have been called by feminist organizations under the slogan “Not one more.” They also ask for legal reforms. “The career of a violent soldier cannot be more important than the safety of women. Our judicial system sides with the violent every day of the week,” denounced the Rosa group.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris has expressed his support for O’Brien. “We live in a country where there continues to be an epidemic of gender violence,” he denounced.
Crotty was off duty and had drunk alcohol, grabbed O’Brien by the hair, knocked her to the ground and punched her with his fists at least six times. The woman was left with a broken nose, swelling, bruises and shock.
Crotty claimed the woman provoked the incident, but security camera footage showed it was an unprovoked attack. The soldier’s superior, Commander Paul Togher, testified that he was an exemplary and disciplined soldier.
Judge Tom O’Donnell sentenced Crotty to three years in prison and 3,000 euros in compensation. The lack of criminal record and recognition of the crime have led to the decision to grant him conditional release.
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