POLITICIANS in Kerry yesterday broke their silence on the Listowel sex assault case which has received huge countrywide reaction and drawn messages of support from around the world for the female victim.

The Kerry victim at the centre of a sexual assault case has appealed to others to stand up for their rights.

THE Kerry victim in the sexual assault case that has incensed the nation hasappealed to other victims of sexual assault to stand up for their rights and to be confident that “no means no”.

The Listowel sexual assault case continued to reverberate over the weekend after the victim gave a press conference and was interviewed on Marian Finucane’s radio programme yesterday.

A MAN convicted of sexual assault told gardaí that his victim had knelt before him in a carpark and asked him to ‘f**k’ her.

The woman at the centre of the Listowel sexual assault case today spoke out about her experiences, saying she "never felt so alone in all her life" as when friends and neighbours of the convicted man queued to shake his hand.

The victim of a sexual assault in Listowel, Co Kerry, will tell her side of the story later.

I AM absolutely gutted for the woman who had to witness 50 friends of Danny Foley, who was convicted of sexually assaulting her, shake his hand and hug him in court while he was awaiting sentencing in Tralee Circuit Criminal Court (Irish Examiner, December 17).

An open letter to Fr Seán Sheehy, PP, Castlegregory, Co Kerry

OUR Catholic bishops have endured considerable criticism so it is entirely appropriate that when one does something commendable it should be recognised.

A PRIEST who was criticised for giving character evidence of behalf of a convicted sex offender has stepped down from his position in the Kerry diocese in advance of a news conference later today by the 24-year-old woman who was assaulted in the case.

THE fiancée of a convicted sex offender yesterday called for a change in the system under which people charged with serious sex offences are tried.

THE victim of the Kerry sexual assault case has said she felt “like she was dying inside” when a priest claimed her attacker was innocent.

BLOGS and social networking sites have been inundated with angry comments in reaction to the show of support for convicted Kerry sex offender Danny Foley.

The priest who shook the hand and gave character evidence on behalf of a convicted sex offender has left his post of parish priest in Castlegregory.

The brother of a man convicted of sexual assault in Listowel in Co Kerry says if his brother's "so-called victim" is being shunned, it is wrong.

THE 24-year-old victim in the controversial Kerry sex assault case may be forced to move out of Listowel because of the “intolerable hostility towards her”, a close family member has said.

A PRIEST was yesterday unapologetic about giving character evidence on behalf of a convicted sex offender.

DANNY FOLEY’S fiancé yesterday pledged to stand by him, saying he was not the monster which had been portrayed.

THE show of support in a Kerry courtroom for a convicted sex offender has sparked-off a flood of angry comments on a Facebook page called “Shocked By Reaction In Listowel”.

The girlfriend of a man jailed for sexually assaulting a woman in Co Kerry has said the fact that around 50 people queued up in court to shake his hand proves the esteem in which he is held.

CHARACTER evidence by a local priest on behalf of a 35-year-old convicted sex offender was dismissed by presiding Judge Donagh McDonagh at the Circuit Criminal Court, in Tralee, yesterday.

IT was a scene that could have come from a John B Keane play – a bizarre gesture of support by some plain people of Kerry for a convicted sex offender.

The disgraceful scene in court in Tralee yesterday of a line of some 50 people expressing support for a man convicted of a brutal sexual assault in Listowel, Co Kerry, sent entirely the wrong message. The incident, which occurred before the judge entered the courtroom, was obviously organised beforehand.