Councillor sorry character reference caused rape survivor 'further hurt'

A Londonderry councillor has said he is "heartbroken" that his character reference for an Irish soldier jailed for rape may have caused the victim "undue hurt or pain".

Brian Tierney said he would never have provided the court reference, which he later withdrew, had he known the "seriousness" of the charges.

Kielan Mooney, 30, of Bloomfield Park, Derry, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years for raping the woman, who was a fellow member of the Irish Defence Forces.

Mooney's family said the councillor, who has been suspended from the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), was "misled" into providing the reference.

Tierney told BBC News NI he was sorry to cause any hurt to the victim.

"Her bravery is astonishing, and she doesn't deserve this".

"I am heart fully sorry. I have taken steps to write to the survivor in this case, to apologise, to explain my side of the story, and to apologise for any further undue hurt I may have caused her."

He added: "It's just heartbreaking. She was so brave to come out and speak out, and to think that I appeared to be on the other side and be against her breaks my heart."

Tierney told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme he was asked for a character reference for Mooney on 16 December 2024 by a member of the Mooney family.

He provided that reference to a solicitor the following day.

"At that point I was not aware of the charges that Kielan Mooney was facing," Tierney said.

He said there was "no mention of any sexual offences at all".

Mooney was jailed last week after being found guilty at Dublin's Central Criminal Court on 10 December 2024 of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

The offences happened in a Dublin hotel in July 2021.

The victim said Mooney's actions had left her feeling suicidal.

In a statement issued on Wednesday through law firm Madden & Finucane, the Mooney family said Brian Tierney provided the reference at their request and "wasn't told that it related to a pending criminal charge".

The former mayor of Derry City and Strabane said he provided the reference "in good faith" and had "no reason to believe he was being misled".

"I want to make the point, if I had been aware, I would have told the family that I would not in any way support or try to stand behind someone who was facing a conviction of those serious, serious charges," Tierney said.

"I believed that this was over an assault in a pub, and that is what I provided a reference for".

Tierney told BBC News NI he only found out Mooney was facing rape charges after reading about it on a news website on 21 December 2024.

"On the 22 December, I contacted the family right away that morning to find out what was going on because that was completely different to what I was being made aware of and I spoke to the family, and I contacted the solicitor and immediately withdrew that reference," he continued.

Tierney said he has also written to the judge in the case to "apologise and explain my side of the story" and also to the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Republic of Ireland.

"If that at least does anything for that girl it will be priceless for me… but my thoughts are with her so, so much, and I profusely apologise to her for being caught up in this, but I was completely misled. If I had known, I would never, never have provided this reference."

In their statement, the Mooney family said they wished "to put on record some important information" in relation to the court case and Tierney's character reference.

"The truth is that Councillor Brian Tierney was misled into giving this character reference – and we fully apologise to him and his family," the statement read.

"As has already been stated publicly, once Councillor Tierney was eventually made aware of the seriousness of the criminal charges in this case, he withdrew the character reference.

"We accept full responsibility and apologise for our part in asking for a character reference without Councillor Tierney being aware of the full facts and the full information.

"We deeply regret this and regret the impact this decision has had."

Tierney said he has been unable to sleep or eat over recent weeks, but said he accepts "full responsibility for what I have done, adding he has "let himself down with one mistake" and "is paying the price for that."

Earlier this week, SDLP leader Claire Hanna defended the party's handling of the incident.

She said the SDLP "equivocated in no way" in its response to Tierney's reference.

"We triggered our internal processes, responded very quickly about the seriousness of the allegation, and Brian is no longer an SDLP councillor."

She also said Tierney was "clearly very remorseful" and had taken a number of steps to "try and remediate the damage that he has caused".

Tierney reiterated his apology during a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council on Wednesday.

He was speaking as councillors were debating a motion calling on the council to "reaffirm its longstanding commitment to ending violence against women and girls".

An amendment to the motion from People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin, calling on Tierney to resign, failed to garner any support, while a number of councillors spoke in support of Tierney.

However, Sinn Féin councillors left the chamber for a time before some returned, with the party's Christopher Jackson saying that while there is "a huge level" of public anger over Tierney's "mistake", whether or not he should resign was a decision only he can make.

Councillors voted against a Sinn Féin move to adjourn the meeting.