Player who sent vile text identified

THE identity of the Ireland rugby player who sent one of the vile text messages shown in court during the rugby rape trial has been revealed by the Irish Mail on Sunday.

Craig Gilroy, who plays on the wing for Ulster and has played for Ireland, has been revealed to be the person who sent the text ‘Any sluts get f***ed?’ to his team-mate Stuart Olding the day after a party at Paddy Jackson’s home in 2016.

Although the text was entered into evidence in court, Gilroy was not identified as the sender of the message and was only referred to as CG during the trial. Gilroy was the only Ulster player in the 2016/2017 squad that had those initials although he had yet to play for Ireland.

When contacted by the Irish Mail on Sunday about the text messages sent by Gilroy, the Irish Rugby Football Union refused to comment on whether this was appropriate language for a representative player to use about women.

When asked if Gilroy’s behaviour would also be investigated, the IRFU said that all matters that relate to the trial will be examined in the review. A spokesman for the IRFU said: ‘It would be inappropriate to comment further until we’ve had time to complete the review.’

Gilroy is a friend of Jackson and Olding, having attended the same Belfast school as Jackson.

During court proceedings, it emerged the day after the party at Jackson’s house that CG sent Olding the text ‘how was she’ to which Olding replied with ‘She was very, very loose’.

CG then texted his friend, ‘Any sluts get f***ed?’ Olding replied, ‘Precious secrets’.