Thousands of protestors attended the “Not in Our UCD” rally on March 4. The protest was held in solidarity with a UCD Medicine student who was a victim of rape and image-based sexual assault (IBSA). The demonstration began outside O’Reilly Hall before moving to the Quad outside the Health Science building.
The demonstration was called by UCD Students’ Union (SU) in solidarity with the student whose explicit image was circulated by an anonymous source to staff via college emails and to a large student WhatsApp group.
Speakers at the protest included UCDSU President Micheal Roche, SU Education Officer Matt Mion, Isi Durán from ROSA (a Socialist Feminist Movement), Rachel Morrogh from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), Faye Ní Dhomhnaill, Vice President for Campaigns with AMLÉ (formerly USI), TD Ruth Coopinger, SU Gender Equality Coordinator Maeve Farragher and SU Campaigns and Engagements Officer Kelvyn Fields, who read the Open letter to UCD on behalf of Doctors.
UCD student protesters were also joined by representatives from Trinity College Students’ Union and by other student union groups from around the country.
The College Tribune spoke with Coppinger, the TD who first shared this story and brought it to the attention of the Dáil. Speaking of the protest, she said, “I think it was an amazing turnout … people really wanted to be here”.
She further highlighted how, “This is a real problem in society, it isn’t just UCD as we know … there is an increase in violence against women. There’s no question in my mind because of the violent misogyny that’s being unleashed on the internet and impacting young boys, young men.”
Talking about the survivor, she explained, “I can’t believe that somebody has had to withstand this for three years, first of all going through that experience and then the institutional abuse by UCD as well.”
When asked what action she would like to see from UCD, she said, “They need to make a clear a path so that she [the survivor] can resume her medical studies, and I cannot understand how they embarked on preventing her from sitting her exams in the first place, given what she’d been through.”
“I want them to investigate the IBSA because that happened in UCD’s own systems, among their staff, among their students. They should be rooting this person out who took the image, who shared the image, who made comments on the image. They have sanctions against these things in their policy. These sanctions go right up to expulsion … they haven’t even used any of them. I know you have to go through due process, but the only person to suffer in this whole debacle is the victim, and it is a pattern … I’ve talked to others who lost out on their education as well as all the mental trauma that they’re going through”.
The College Tribune obtained an email distributed to the School of Medicine from UCD. In the email, the university informs medical students about the demonstration planned. The email tells students to “go about their business as usual but be vigilant.” It further states, “If any student feels in any way threatened by the environment on Wednesday, please do not hesitate to contact the Emergency Campus line”.
At the beginning of the demonstration, Roche addressed the crowd. “We are here to stand in solidarity with victims of Sexual Assault, Gender-based Violence and Misogyny. We have heard the horrific story from one of our students, someone who comes from the UCD community, and we are here today to offer her solidarity.”
He further supported the student by stating, “We are here today to say zero tolerance means zero tolerance. In our university, we have seen the story that has come out in the last two weeks and the harm that it has caused, and the hurt that it has caused our community. We are here today to say that it is unacceptable.”
Roche was followed by Mion. He spoke of UCD’s “institutional self-protection”. “What we are witnessing is not an isolated breakdown, but it is a predictable outcome of a system that can priortise procedure and policy over people, reputation over responsibility and institutional power over student welfare.”
He also mentions the failures of UCD Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), mentioning that UCD publishes a policy of care but, when faced with crisis they encounter “a contradiction of rhetoric and reality.” Mion stated that, “When accountability is avoided, it is not convenient, it is an oversight. It is a failure of moral leadership”.
The College Tribune spoke to Kate and Niamh*, two nursing students at the protest. Kate said, “The way the college dealt with the whole situation was not acceptable. They should have supported her from the get-go.”
Niamh added that, “It makes you embarrassed to go here”, and, “I have heard of students not putting UCD on their CAO.”
The College Tribune also interviewed Isabella Attanasio, a Stage 2 English and Film Student. She told us that she attended the protest, “purely because of the injustice this young woman endured.”
Attanasio also highlighted concerns regarding safety on UCD campus by stating, “Is this university a safe place anymore? It is questionable if this is a safe place anymore, if we allow this person [the perpetrator] to study and engage with it.”
Speaking to The College Tribune after the protest, Mion said, “Unfortunately, every single student is here today because of sexual violence, and that hits close to home, and that’s why they have come out here. I think that just proves the point, and that is strong enough that UCD needs to be doing something about this. UCD has not been strong on this. Universities across the country have not been strong on this. Nobody is doing this right. And I think this is the message we see here today, is that victims need respect, victims need dignity, and victims need accountability”.
During the demonstration, Durán from ROSA addressed the crowd. She spoke of “The failures of institutions that are meant to protect us – our universities, our governments, our courts – who still think that survivor’s counselling notes are valid evidence”.
She then spoke directly to the victim who said the support she’s received since coming out has given her the energy to consider returning to medicine. Durán said, “I want to say to her directly, and I think I speak for everyone here, that we need more doctors like you, and I really hope you achieve that”.
Morrogh from DRCC then spoke to the protestors. She highlighted that “No survivor should ever have to fight as hard as the student who we are here today to support. There were attempts to quash her spirit with one thousand cuts and bring her bravery, her courage, her identity down to a base level, to make her more compliant, more manageable. But, today we have the opportunity to rally her and every student who has experienced sexual violence and let them know that they are the very best of us”. Her comments were met with loud cheers from those gathered on the grass.
She reminded the crowd that the DRCC offers support to all victims or anyone impacted, and highlighted their 24-hour helpline. She said, “To every survivor, DRCC sees you, DRCC believes you – and we know that it was never, ever your fault”.
Ní Dhomhnaill from AMLÉ, followed Morrogh and highlighted how “All of us showing up today to demand respect just shows how strong we can be when we’re unified together”.
She discussed the “Growing acceptance towards sexual violence” and highlighted how a 2025 report from Speak Out revealed that only one in four students reported sexual violence on their campus’”.
Ní Dhomhnaill emphasised how, “Sexual violence is like a rotted tooth stuck in the gums of higher education. You can’t paint over it, you can’t ignore the ache. You have to eradicate the issue from the root, or else it will just keep coming back”. She urged for clear reporting lines to be established.
Coppinger was the last speaker to address the crowd before they marched to the Health Science building. She highlighted that as a former UCD student, she had never seen a protest crowd so large on the campus and declared, “Well done for making history today”.
Speaking specifically about the UCD Medicine student, she highlighted how the victim “Has been dealing with this for three years. That’s already a prison sentence, probably more than a rapist would even serve.”
She referenced the “Institutional abuse that she [the medicine student] has faced” and mentioned how “Not only did she lose her place in education, but this is a pattern. I’ve spoken to two other people, one who was sexually assaulted and one who was stalked. In each of those cases the victim ends up dropping out … while the rapist and the perpetrator sit in the exam hall not a bother on them”. This was met with shouts of “Shame” from the crowd.
Coppinger then said, “How is it that somebody who is the rape victim has lost their place in UCD School of Medicine, but it’s ok with UCD that a rapist is on the course”.
She also spoke of the letter UCD sent in response to her letter, where they did not once mention any sympathy for the survivor. Coppinger then asked, “What was the problem with letting her [the victim] re-sit the exams? Can UCD answer us that? Is it because they wanted to get rid of her? Was she the problem? So their reputation seems to be to keep the money rolling in and protect your reputation, no care at all for the survivor”.
Coppinger urged students to build on this movement and called for a walkout in universities around the country. She also demanded, “A system that is completely victim-centred. No student who is a victim of sexual assault should lose their place in education”.
When speaking to The College Tribune, AMLÉ’s Ní Dhomhnaill stated, “I think a protest such as this, is important first of all as a showing of solidarity to all survivors of sexual violence… seeing so many young people, men, women, all genders coming out saying enough is enough, and we won’t stand for ineffective policy is really heartening. And it is something that is really great to see within young people.”
Speaking directly to The College Tribune, ROSA’s Durán stated, “UCD has definitely made history. I think it shows how much of an issue gender-based violence is…it is so entrenched in every aspect of society. And I think this protest today is a really good first step to tackling that, and this Sunday [March 8th] is International Women’s Day, and there will be a protest.”
*Names changed for anonymity.
Emma Murphy – Social Media Manager and Contributor
Ellen Clusker – Co-Editor