Eoin Berkely, the vandal who covered The George in homophobic graffiti, has admitted to three counts of raping an 18 year-old girl in 2017.

The victim was a Spanish student who had been staying with a host family in Dublin. The incidents took place on July 15 and 16 last year at the Irish Glass Bottle Company site on Pigeon House Road. The young woman is currently at home in Spain but prosecutors said arrangements would be made if she decided to attend the sentencing hearing and wanted to make a victim impact statement.

The judge overlooking the case, Justice Michael White, adjourned sentencing awaiting the young woman’s decision, remanding Berkely until October 22.

Berkely made headlines in February of this year when he used chalk to draw a Nazi swastika alongside the words “Faggots out, faggot, faggot bar, homo fag” on the exterior of the popular Dublin nightspot The George. Despite having 23 previous convictions including weapons offences and the possession of knives, he was acquitted due to technicalities.

Berkely had allegedly admitted to being the vandal but was was granted a dismissal when his then solicitor argued for the case to be thrown out of court due to gaps in evidence of CCTV footage and the absence of the Garda witness who had authorised the interview in which Berkely had confessed. A further technicality was the bar’s general manager Darragh Flynn giving evidence but not being the manager listed on the charge sheet as the injured party. 

Berkely instead was found guilty of using threatening words and behaviour during a separate incident outside a bar on Eustace Street.

It was recently reported that Ireland currently has no effective hate crime legislation and that the absence of said laws has led to a “policy vacuum” in relation to crimes motivated by prejudice in Ireland.

If you were affected by any of the issues highlighted in this article you can reach out to the following:

Irish Rape Crisis Centre

T (24-hour helpline): 1800778888 | W: https://www.rapecrisishelp.ie/

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre

T: 01 661 4911 | E: [email protected] | W: www.drcc.ie/