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Listowel's shame

Late last year, the Kerry town was thrust into an unwelcome spotlight over the notorious 'handshaking' of a convicted rapist. Crime Correspondent Ali Bracken returns to Listowel and talks to locals about the incident that divided the community

Danny Foley

Fr Sean Sheehy

Listowel

The chip shop where Foley worked

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IN LISTOWEL, it will forever be known as the "handshaking incident". Sixty days have passed since dozens of people formed an orderly queue in a Kerry courthouse to shake the hand of and embrace a man convicted of the sexual assault of a young Listowel woman. This very public display of support for 35-year-old Danny Foley did the victim, her attacker and the town of Listowel a major disservice. The 23-year-old at the centre of the media storm is now trying to get on with her life while the man convicted of attacking her is preparing for his appeal. Locals, meanwhile, are anxious to dispel the notion that theirs is a backward town with antiquated attitudes to perpetrators of sexual violence. There is a strong sense that the image of their heritage and literary town has been unfairly tainted.

The story of Danny Foley's crime had all the elements of a play by the town's most famous son, John B Keane. A middle-class man versus a working-class woman. The man from a rural farming background versus the woman from the town. But the plot had a 21st-century twist, complete with binge drinking at a nightclub that led to a sexual attack partially captured on CCTV. "The young woman was and always will be welcome in my pub," said Billy Keane, who runs a bar in the town that bears his father's name. "She has my full support. The matter is under appeal. All I want to say is that my position hasn't changed."

Listowel is no longer a town divided. Support for the young woman locally has swung more in her favour, with some who publicly backed Foley now distancing themselves from the controversy. The passage of time has provided opportunity for people to fully absorb what led a jury to convict the 35-year-old of sexual assault.

'I don't want to talk about it'

One of the 50 or so people who queued to shake the bouncer's hand was his employer, Diarmuid O'Mahoney, who runs the takeaway Jumbos where Foley worked. The 23-year-old victim was refused service in the chip shop after Foley was convicted. But O'Mahoney said there was no ill-will towards the young woman at the takeaway. "She always was more than welcome," O'Mahoney told the Sunday Tribune. Does he still support his former employee and stand over his decision to shake his hand in court after he was convicted? "I don't want to talk about it anymore," he replied. "I'm tired of it."

O'Mahoney's weariness over questions still being asked is mirrored by most people in the town. Many say it is no longer a talking point. People have moved on and the media should find another story is the repeated response to questions about the incident that placed Listowel briefly in the glaring spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Aside from the actions of Foley's supporters in court, that a local priest who shook his hand was forced to stand down ensured the story continued to rumble on. Fr Sean Sheehy stepped down from his temporary ministry in Castlegregory soon after a showdown meeting with Bishop Bill Murray. Fr Sheehy has not been reinstated. After his resignation, the canon of Listowel, Fr James Linnane, met with the 23-year-old victim and apologised to her on behalf of the church. "There were two families affected by what happened – it's important to remember that. I visited both families. I haven't heard any mention of what happened one way or the other since before Christmas," Fr Linnane told the Sunday Tribune. "People have moved on. It should have ended after the court case but some people decided to shake his hand. Is there ill-will towards her in the town? I don't know, you would have to ask her that."

The young woman politely declined an interview request. She wants to focus on raising her young son and knows that Danny Foley's appeal will once again stir up media interest in the case. The details of what happened to her that night speak for themselves.

Shortly before 4am on 15 June 2008, gardaí on patrol came upon the disturbing scene that would lead to Foley's conviction. The young woman was naked from the waist down, in a semi-conscious state, and her head was rolling from side to side. Foley, who was out celebrating his 34th birthday, was crouched over her beside a skip outside the back of a nightclub in Listowel. The woman was in a distressed state, and was screaming and lashing out as she was placed in an ambulance minutes later. The bouncer initially lied to officers, saying he found her there when he went to relieve himself. But he soon changed his story. He later admitted he went outside with the young woman but insisted the sexual contact was consensual, even saying the woman "asked me to ride her".

Half-naked and distraught

Gardaí seized CCTV footage that showed the young woman leaving the nightclub with Foley, unable to walk in a straight line and clinging to him. Moments later, the grainy footage showed Foley carrying her in his arms across the car park towards the back of the club where she was found soon afterwards, half-naked and distraught.

The woman remembers being forced to the ground and then pinned down by Foley. She tried to push him off but couldn't and then he pulled off her pants, she said. She had a clear recollection of sharp pains in her wrists as she fought the 6ft 5in stocky man who had pinned her to the ground. Eventually, she blacked out. When examined at Cork's South Infirmary hospital, the doctor found that she suffered bruising all over her back as well as wrist injuries and scratches. This was compatible with being dragged on the ground, Foley's trial was told. There was no clinical evidence of sexual assault, but the jury of 10 men and two women returned a unanimous guilty verdict on 4 December, utterly rejecting the bouncer's account of what happened the night that both of their lives were changed forever. On 17 December, Foley was sentenced to seven years in jail with two suspended for the sexual assault.

He is serving his sentence at Dublin's Arbour Hill prison. "At the moment, he is focusing on the appeal. He still has a lot of support and the young woman still has a lot of support also. It's a long road ahead," his brother Tim said. "Danny still has a lot of friends and people backing him, that hasn't changed."

Before his imprisonment, the 35-year-old lived with his elderly parents, who are both now suffering from ill-health. His fiancée Michelle O'Sullivan suffered a serious spinal fracture in recent weeks, after she was involved in a serious road accident. Foley is feeling extremely isolated and lonely in prison. "It has been very difficult for him, particularly because of what happened to Michelle and his parents. We have a new legal team and are very confident," said a close family member, who asked not to be named.

"The CCTV footage will be a major focus of the appeal. A lot of money has been spent getting the footage cleaned – it was very grainy. It tells a different story when it's cleaned up. There have been horrific things written about Danny, calling him a rapist when he wasn't convicted of rape; that's all with our solicitor now. How can a man like Eamonn Lillis convicted of killing his wife get six years and 11 months and Danny get seven years with two suspended for his conviction? We are all still 100% sure that he is innocent."

The close family member also insisted that support in Listowel for Foley was widespread. But no one else spoken to by the Sunday Tribune said they believed in his innocence. "He has gotten hundreds of letters of support from as far away as Australia and the US. People's support for Danny is still there, it has not waned in the slightest. If anything, support has grown for him," adds his relative. "People still stop me in the street and tell me things about the young woman. I think that it has been tough for everyone – she is entitled to get on with her life too."

Damage to brand Listowel

A friend of the 23-year-old, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, painted an entirely different picture of how people feel about Danny Foley's crime. "He still has some supporters – his family believe he is innocent. The judge and the jury felt otherwise. There's been a sea change in Listowel, a lot of his supporters have changed their view. A lot of people didn't really know what it was about at first but knew and liked Danny Foley and backed him before they knew all the facts," the friend said. "She is trying to get on with her life, she has paid a heavy price for all of this. But people here are not against her – she's been overwhelmed by the support. She just wants the appeal to be over so she can move on with her life. For a while, people spoke about nothing else in Listowel. It was talked to death."

A local garda based in the area agreed that the town is no longer preoccupied with discussing the case that divided public opinion so starkly only eight weeks ago. "She has always had more support than people realise. But I hear everything that goes on in this town and what the gossip is. No one is talking about it," adds the garda. "People are far more concerned about the issues of the day, such as the economy and people losing their jobs."

Local and national politicians have expressed concern that the bad publicity as a result of the incident could damage Listowel's reputation.

"At the time, when I heard that the woman was being shunned I said that she should not be. The law had spoken," said local Fine Gael TD Jimmy Deenihan. "It has been very difficult for both families. What happened has impacted on the brand that is Listowel, which is well-known for its writers and the races. People here have moved on but the two families obviously never will. The people who shook his hand, they were not representing the community. They did that of their own free will. I don't think they meant any malice towards the victim."

The victim, however, feels differently and said at a press conference held at the height of the controversy that some of those who shook Foley's hand threw her dirty looks. "He got convicted. That should be the end of it," says a local in Listowel's Racecourse bar. "People have to accept the verdict of the court. What should we do otherwise, have mob rule and anarchy because everyone thinks Danny Foley is a nice guy?"