Ulster player dropped over message to Olding
Gilroy faces probe over explicit text to his friend
ULSTER rugby star Craig Gilroy has been made unavailable for selection this weekend as his club and the IRFU conduct an internal review into the Belfast rape case.
As revealed in our sister paper The Irish Mail on Sunday last weekend, winger Gilroy, 27 – referred to as CG in trial evidence – was the person who messaged his team-mate Stuart Olding, asking, ‘Any sluts get f***ed?’
The message was sent the day after the party at Paddy Jackson’s home which was at the centre of the case.
Gilroy, who scored a hat-trick of tries for Ireland against Italy in last year’s Six Nations Championship, attended Laganside Courts in the early days of the rape trial to support team-mates Olding and Jackson. During the nineweek trial, the court was told that a team-mate of Olding’s, with the initials CG, had texted him the day after the party at Jackson’s house in June 2016.
Gilroy was the only Ulster player with those initials in the 2016/2017 squad – and he was not in the Ireland squad at the time.
A statement released yesterday by the IRFU and Ulster Rugby said: ‘Ulster Rugby and the IRFU confirm that as Craig Gilroy is subject to an internal review, he will not be available for selection this weekend.’
Jackson and Olding were among four men fully acquitted in the case. In the immediate aftermath of the verdict, Ulster Rugby and the IRFU confirmed the pair will continue to be suspended from playing duties.
Contacted yesterday regarding Gilroy’s messages, Ulster Rugby and the IRFU refused to comment on whether this was appropriate language for a representative player to use about women.
However, when asked whether Gilroy’s behaviour would be investigated, the IRFU said all matters relating to the trial would be examined in the review.
Gilroy will not play in Friday’s PRO14 game against Edinburgh, Ulster and the IRFU confirmed.
He has made 11 appearances for the club this season, scoring nine tries. He has won ten international caps and scored five tries for Ireland.
Gilroy is a friend of both Olding and Jackson. He attended the same elite Belfast school as Jackson – Methodist College.
The court heard that ‘CG’ texted Olding: ‘How was she?’ ‘She was very, very loose,’ replied Olding.
CG then texted his friend: ‘Any sluts get f***ed?’, to which Olding replied: ‘Precious secrets.’
Later, prosecuting counsel Toby Hedworth asked whether CG was ‘the person who is one of the rugby team?’, telling Olding that he didn’t have to say his full name. Olding replied: ‘He’s a friend, yeah.’ Gilroy’s Ulster and Ireland team-mates Jackson, 26, and Olding, 25, were unanimously acquitted last week of raping the same woman at a house party in June 2016. Jackson was also found not guilty of sexual assault. Part of the subsequent review being carried out by Ulster Rugby and the IRFU focuses on the series of messages sent by the players in the wake of the incident. Thousands of people have attended rallies across Ireland to express support for the woman at the centre of the case. Jackson and Olding have expressed a desire to return to rugby. However, they remain relieved of their duties pending the outcome of the review. Two other men were unanimously
‘Subject to internal review’ ‘He is a friend, yeah’
acquitted of lesser charges related to the same incident in June 2016.
Blane McIlroy, 26, was acquitted of exposure while Rory Harrison, 25, was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice and withholding information.
The high-profile trial, which ran for 42 days, generated an unprecedented level of public attention and prompted calls from Jackson’s defence solicitor for a crackdown on social media comment during criminal proceedings.
It has also renewed the debate on whether defendants in rape trials should also be entitled to anonymity, and if their names should only be revealed if they are convicted.