The same event was supported by Independent Ireland, with the group’s TD Ken O’Flynn and Cllr Linda de Courcy also speaking. Rachel Morrogh, chief executive of DRCC, warns that across Europe and the United States, there have been “efforts to weaponise the issue of sexual violence to fuel anti-migrant sentiment”. Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has previously called on the Government to release crime statistics based on nationality, ethnicity or citizenship status. The Women’s Coalition on Immigration, without the same data, instead tries to point to statistics in other European countries. It found that 78 per cent of victims who experienced sexual violence in their lifetime knew the perpetrator.

Source: The Irish Times March 16, 2026 09:02 UTC