Awareness training offered to Kerry GAA after outcry over testimonials for convicted rapist

Director of the Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre offers 'awareness' training on sensitivity around the treatment of victims of sexual violence amid outrage over glowing testimonials at the sentencing hearing of a 26-year-old man convicted of rape last year

Vera O'Leary of the Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre said Kerry GAA needed to bring up their level of understanding and the impact on a victim of sexual violence. File Picture

The director of the Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre has offered “awareness” training to the GAA in Kerry on victim consciousness, and sensitivity around the treatment of victims of sexual violence.

Vera O’Leary, long time director of the organisation set up in Kerry 1992, made the offer live on Joe Duffy’s Liveline programme, amid outrage about the submission last week of glowing testimonials by a senior GAA official in Dingle, a retired Garda sergeant and a publican at the sentencing hearing of a 26-year-old man convicted of rape last year.