Conor McGregor’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House sent a “chilling” message to survivors of sexual abuse, according to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.
McGregor, who was last year found by a civil court to have sexually assaulted Nikita Hand, met President Trump for talks on Ireland's "illegal immigration racket".
He told reporters he was in the White House to "raise the issues the people of Ireland face".
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Both Micheál Martin and Simon Harris have said that McGregor’s views do not reflect those of the Irish people and emphasised that he has no political mandate.
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described him as a “convicted criminal” and said that “good Irish dads teach their sons to detest men like Conor”.
Chief executive officer of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Rachel Morrogh told Lunchtime Live that the platforming of McGregor by the White House is “really dispiriting and really sinister”.
“I understand that it didn’t have the pickup in the States but nevertheless, the message was really chilling to survivors of sexual violence,” she said.
“I think we need to call it out for what it is, which is, one the one hand, an effort to normalise sexual violence, and on the other, the attempt to rebuild the really damaged reputation of Conor McGregor.
“The fact that it was the office of the President of the United States, which is so respected and esteemed, that it was used to do both of these things, I think that is really a line in the sand and we really need to acknowledge that this is very serious.”
'Not in my name'
According to Ms Morrogh, the public outcry against McGregor has been “really positive”.
“There are people who either don’t know about his history in Ireland and the civil case that was taken against him, or they don’t care,” she said.
“The platforming of somebody who has, in Ireland, such negative connotations, I think that’s something actually to call out how encouraging it is to see and how strong the reaction from the public has been.
“To say that catchphrase, ‘Not in my name’, I think has sent a really positive message to survivors of sexual violence.”
Ms Morrogh said it is “remarkable” that McGregor is trying to rebrand himself only 16 weeks since the outcome of his case in November.
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Main image: Conor McGregor and Donald Trump in the White House.
