A 20-year-old County Clare man has been charged with the rape of a woman in a Galway city apartment last year.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Galway District Court on Monday where he denied two counts of raping the woman on the night of July 23-24, last year, contrary to Section 4 and Section 21 of the Criminal Law Rape Amendment Act, 1990.
Garda Conor Barrett gave evidence of going to the man’s home earlier that morning and arresting him. He took him to Galway Garda Station and charged him there. He said the man replied “not guilty” to both charges.
Garda Barrett said he had no objection to bail provided conditions were attached.
Judge Aeneas McCarthy remanded the man on his own bail of €1,000 with no lodgement required, to appear before the court again on March 11 for service of a Book of Evidence.
Bail was granted on condition he surrender his passport to gardaí within 24 hours and not apply for a new one; sign on three times a week at his local garda station; have no contact with the alleged injured party or any other witnesses in the case; and stay out of Galway city and county, except for court appearances and legal consultations.
By Ann Healy
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.