UCD president Orla Feely: 'The needs of our student have been at the centre of the university’s response throughout'Public “speculation” about a case of alleged image-based abuse of a University College Dublin medicine student was “harming” the UCD community, the college’s president Orla Feely has said. “Because speculation in the public domain is now harming our students, staff and other members of our community, I am writing to provide some clarification on material now in circulation,” she said. Wednesday’s protest was called by the UCD students’ union after a “nude, bruised” intimate image of the young woman after allegedly being sexually assaulted, was shared with staff and students, via email and WhatsApp groups, last year. In her judgment on a case taken last year by the young woman against UCD, Judge Marguerite Bolger ordered that neither the student, witnesses, nor UCD be identifiable. We are also concerned about the distress caused to our wider community of students and staff, particularly in the School of Medicine.”

Source: The Irish Times March 06, 2026 02:40 UTC