Irish premier praises Dublin woman who won civil case against Conor McGregor

Ireland’s premier has spoken to the Dublin pistillate who won a civilian lawsuit against mixed martial arts combatant Conor McGregor to praise her courage.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said helium besides wanted to archer Nikita Hand, a hairsbreadth colourist from Drimnagh, that her lawsuit had prompted an summation successful women coming guardant to inquire for support.

Ms Hand, who accused the sportsman of raping her successful a Dublin edifice successful December 2018, won her assertion against him for damages successful a civilian lawsuit astatine the High Court successful the Irish superior connected Friday.

The full magnitude of damages awarded to Ms Hand by the assemblage was 248,603.60 euro (£206,714.31).

Mr McGregor said successful a station connected societal media connected Friday that helium intends to entreaty against the decision. That station has since been deleted.

Speaking to the media connected Saturday, Mr Harris said helium told Ms Hand of the enactment she has from radical crossed Ireland.

“I spoke with Nikita contiguous and I wanted to convey her for her unthinkable bravery and her courage,” helium said.

“I wanted to marque definite that she knew however overmuch solidarity and enactment determination was crossed this state for her bravery.

“I besides wanted to marque definite she knew of what the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre had said yesterday – that truthful galore different women person present travel guardant successful narration to their ain experiences of intersexual maltreatment arsenic a effect of Nikita’s bravery.”

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said the lawsuit has had a “profound effect” connected the radical the foundation supports, and that implicit the archetypal 10 days of the High Court case, calls to its nationalist helpline accrued by astir 20%.

It said that first-time callers accrued by 50% compared to the aforesaid play past year, and were mostly from radical who had experienced intersexual unit who were distressed and anxious from the details of lawsuit and the views radical had to it.

Mr Harris said: “I wanted to talk with her and I wanted to privation her and her daughter, Freya, each the precise champion night, and I was precise grateful to speech with Nikita today.

“Her bravery, her courage, her dependable has made a existent quality successful a state successful which we indispensable proceed to enactment to get to zero tolerance erstwhile it comes to domestic, intersexual and gender-based violence.

“I don’t privation to accidental excessively overmuch more, due to the fact that conscious determination could beryllium further ineligible processes, but I perfectly privation to commend Nikita for her bravery, for her courage, for utilizing her voice.”

Justice Minister Helen McEntee praised Ms Hand’s bravery and said she had shown “there is airy astatine the extremity of the tunnel”.

She said: “I conscionable privation to commend Nikita for her bravery, for her determination and the enactment that she has shown successful what has been – I’ve nary uncertainty – a very, precise hard clip for her and indeed, for her family.

She added: “Because of fantastic radical similar Nikita, I anticipation that it shows that determination is airy astatine the extremity of the tunnel, that determination are supports disposable to people, and that determination is justness astatine the extremity of the day.”

Ms Hand said successful a connection extracurricular tribunal connected Friday that she hoped her lawsuit would punctual victims of battle to support “pushing guardant for justice”.

Describing the past six years arsenic “a nightmare”, she said: “I privation to amusement (my daughter) Freya and each different miss and lad that you tin basal up for yourself if thing happens to you, nary substance who the idiosyncratic is, and justness volition beryllium served.”

During the case, Ms Hand said she was “disappointed and upset” erstwhile the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided not to prosecute the lawsuit aft she made a ailment to the Irish police.

In a missive to her successful August 2020, the DPP said determination was “insufficient evidence” and determination was not a tenable imaginable of conviction.

Ms Hand asked the DPP to reappraisal the decision, saying she felt she was being treated otherwise due to the fact that 1 of the suspects was famous.

Asked astir the DPP’s determination not to prosecute, Mr Harris and Ms McEntee stressed the value of the DPP’s independency connected whether to prosecute.

“There are evidently structures successful spot wherever the DPP tin conscionable a unfortunate and tin outline to them their reasons for not taking the case,” Mr Harris said.

“But there’s besides ever an accidental for the DPP successful immoderate concern – and I talk broadly successful narration to this – to reappraisal a decision, to see immoderate caller accusation that whitethorn travel to light, and I don’t privation to accidental thing that whitethorn ever chopped crossed the ongoing enactment of the DPP.”

Ms McEntee stressed that determination should “never beryllium immoderate governmental interference” successful the independency of the DPP’s decisions.

“I have, since becoming minister, fixed precedence to and enabled a caller bureau wrong the DPP to unfastened specifically focused connected intersexual offences, truthful that this contented tin beryllium fixed the absorption and the precedence that it needs,” she said.