Victim impact statement

IN her victim impact statement the woman who was sexually assaulted said she had suicidal intentions and sometimes felt unable to cope, needing the support of her family to keep going.

She felt tired a lot of the time, had nightmares and found it hard to sleep.

She also said everyone in Listowel knew who she was, despite the media respecting her anonymity.

“Since the trial, I feel restricted in where I can go around town. I feel everyone is staring at me and talking about me,” she said, reading from a prepared statement.

“I feel as if people are judging me the whole time. But I should not be made feel guilty. I’ve been asked by people I know if I am sorry for bringing Dan Foley to court. I’m not sorry for it. All I did was tell the truth,” she said.

She went on to say she did not hate Foley as a person, but hated what he had done to her and what she had to go through every day since that night.

She also spoke of how the incident had destroyed her confidence and how she had to go on pain-killers and anti-depressants.

The woman also said she had since felt very uncomfortable among men. She tried to have a relationship, but it did not work out because she was not ready to trust again.

She had very little self-confidence and respect for herself and found having to go to the sexual assault treatment unit, in Cork, after the incident, a very difficult and uncomfortable experience.

Her family was helping to keep her going, she went on, and she was continuing to receive regular counselling from the Kerry Rape Crisis Centre.

Her counsellor was helping her a lot, she told Judge McDonagh.