Sean Ryan disputes allegations of sexual harassment in Facebook post

In a statement posted on Ryan’s official campaign page, Ryan stated that the details of the article “have been completely and intentionally removed from their context.”

Sean Ryan, candidate in the race for President of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has rejected the contents of an article published today by Trinity News.The article in question contained details of messages sent by Ryan which resulted in a complaint being brought to the Junior Dean over sexual harassment.

In a statement posted on Ryan’s official campaign page, Ryan stated that the details of the article “have been completely and intentionally removed from their context.”

The post continues that this was done in a “deliberately vague manner, without any reference to their previous messages or interactions, so as to turn the student body against Ryan.”

The post claims that, based upon the “the initial legal advice given to Ryan”, the messages do not constitute sexual harassment.

Ryan also criticised Trinity News’ reporting. Ryan said the paper “failed to meet any form of journalistic ethics, or embody any common human decency, by posting a damaging headline WITHOUT access to the article for over 15 minutes and WITHOUT giving Ryan enough time to speak to the Junior Dean himself before publication.”

Trinity News’s website crashed for a period of time following publication of the article due to volume of traffic.

Ryan further stated: “Trinity News have made it their mission to hunt for ANY information that could be used against Ryan and skew it to achieve their goal of not only extinguishing his campaign for SU President, but more importantly, destroying his right to a good name and future livelihood.”