A 28-year-old Mayo woman who was raped by a work colleague at a house party ten years ago has said she hopes she can now live a happy life after her rapist was jailed for seven years yesterday.
Ciara Mangan spoke to RTÉ's Morning Ireland about the rape in May 2013 and its aftermath.
Twenty-eight-year-old Shane Noonan of Castlehill Park, Turlough Road in Castlebar, was sentenced to eight years in prison with the final year suspended, at the Central Criminal Court for what the judge called the "cold, predatory and premeditated" rape of Ms Mangan when they were both just 18.
Ms Mangan said she had gone to a house party and began to feel extremely unwell and sleepy after drinking from an already open can of cider.
Noonan was a work colleague at a local fast-food restaurant but Ms Mangan said he rarely spoke to her and she was under the impression he disliked her.
After she became unwell, she said Noonan "made a beeline" for her. He tried to kiss her before guiding her upstairs to a bathroom where he locked the door and raped her while she drifted in and out of consciousness.
The court heard Noonan says he remembers the events before and afterwards but cannot recall the rape although he has expressed remorse.
In her interview, Ms Mangan said she had been inspired to waive her right to anonymity by other victims of sexual violence.
She said she had so much respect for them and wanted to show that the injured parties in these cases were not just victims without a name – they are human beings. She said she felt if she came forward and waived her right, she could give someone else the courage they needed. She said she wanted to show justice was possible and she added "I’m still here."
Ms Mangan said she hoped in the future she would learn to live with what had happened, that it would take up less space in her mind and she would go on to help other people.
She has been living abroad for the past number of years and she said last week she was able to walk around her hometown of Castlebar on her own for the first time in ten years, because she knew Shane Noonan was in prison. She said she hopes to move back home to Ireland.
Ms Mangan said she now just wanted to live a happy life.
"I have not been so happy for ten years," she said, "and it’s just done now. I can move on. I don’t have anything hanging over me now. It’s done."
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