Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has apologised for comments he made in the wake of the verdict in the Belfast rape trial. Paddy Jackson had launched legal proceedings for defamation following a tweet posted by the Senator.
Ulster and Ireland Rugby players Jackson and Stuart Olding, as well as two other men, were acquitted of all charges following an allegation by a Belfast woman that she had been raped at Mr Jackson’s home.
The ruling drew a massive amount of online comAodhán Ó Ríordáin
mentary, including a tweet from Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, which Mr Jackson and his legal team judged to be defamatory.
He has now apologised saying it wasn’t designed to suggest Mr Jackson or any of the other accused men were guilty or that the jury got it wrong.
He said he accepts he wasn’t privy to all the evidence put before the jury during the trial.
Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding, as well as two other men, were acquitted of all charges following the allegation by a Belfast woman that she had been raped at Mr Jackson’s home in June 2016 following a night out in Belfast.
Mr Ó Ríordáin said he will not be making any further comment on the matter.
