Allison Morris
A suspended SDLP councillor has been accused of supporting a second man accused of rape, describing the individual, who had a history of abuse, as “a friend of mine”.
Brian Tierney recently apologised for providing a reference for Irish Defence Forces member Kielan Mooney, who was convicted of raping a fellow soldier.
Mr Tierney remains on Derry City and Strabane District Council as an independent and is employed by the office of Foyle MP Colum Eastwood, a position paid through Westminster.
Now, another woman has claimed he showed support to someone accused of sexually assaulting her multiple times.
In the Mooney case, Mr Tierney claimed he was misled when he provided a reference for the Derry man, who was jailed for eight years for attacking a woman in a Dublin hotel room.
He said he was asked for a character reference on December 16 last year by a member of Mooney’s family and provided it to a solicitor the following day.
“At that point I was not aware of the charges that Kielan Mooney was facing,” he said. The Mooney family, in a statement via a solicitor, later confirmed he “was misled into giving this character reference”.
Brian Tierney
A second woman has now said Mr Tierney also provided support for the man charged with attacking her.
The accused, now deceased, was charged with multiple counts of rape here and one count over the border.
After the accused’s death, days before he was due to stand trial, online posts targeted the alleged victim, with Mr Tierney ‘liking’ and sharing some of them using his official SDLP councillor Facebook profile.
The Belfast Telegraph has seen these messages, which were raised with members of the party at the time.
The woman said his defence of Mooney had forced her to speak out.
“Brian Tierney’s disingenuous apology has forced me, very reluctantly, to break my silence,” she said.
“I’ve tried to rebuild my life and put this trauma behind me, but for Brian to claim this was a one-off, an isolated incident or accident, has upset me.
“He intervened in my case as well and I can’t even start to explain how hurtful that was.
“Brian knows what he did on me, the SDLP know about it too.
“The online campaign against me that he enthusiastically joined in on was during an already horrendously difficult time.
“I had previously approached Brian as a constituent and told him about my situation. I shared private information, and never at any stage did he declare a conflict of interest or tell me that he was friends with my attacker.
“You can imagine how distressed I was when I later found that out.
“This was all done without any concern for what impact that might have on me and my family.”
The woman said she confronted the councillor after he called to a relative’s house while canvassing during an election.
She added: “I told him he’d never get my vote or a vote from anyone related to me, that he had publicly thrown his support behind the man. He replied: ‘You’ll just have to accept my apology’.”
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A relative of the women also contacted Mr Tierney about his support. His response has been seen by the Belfast Telegraph.
Mr Tierney said the man was a “friend”, adding he was “in my house last Friday for a chat and a cuppa”.
This was after the man’s name had appeared in the local media charged in connection with four rapes and two counts of sexual assault.
Mr Tierney told the woman’s family: “If she looks, I have liked every post on that page and even shared some of them… I was not condoning the post, I was by my ‘like’ offering support to the family.”
He added that he apologised if, by liking the post “I have added to her family’s distress at this time”.
The accused had also been reported to police for a similar attack on another victim and had a history of domestic abuse.
The woman said: “I couldn’t find my voice at the time, and I might never have spoken about this only for what has now happened.
“It has been a very difficult time and I am only speaking now because I feel I have been forced into it by the actions of Brian Tierney.”
The SDLP was asked if there was an investigation into the allegations and, more generally, what advice had been given to members about social media activity and references for the criminal or family court. The party said it would not be commenting.
When contacted, Mr Tierney responded: “What support am I supposed to have given him?”
He did not respond to further queries.
by themexican78
4 comments
May he have the days he deserves
Once is a mistake, twice is a pattern.
So Councillor keeps the company and has cups of tea with a rapist and woman beater. Eastwood needs to get him shifted less he becomes tarred with the same rapey brush.
Look fellas, if you know a person who is violently assaulting their woman or/and has had credible allegations of rape made against them. Don’t be pals with them anymore. It looks horrendous and makes sensible people wonder what you yourself are capable of.
He will be wheeling his wife out again for the camera’s with more crocodile tears.
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