A former SDLP councillor who resigned from the party after he was “misled” into providing a character reference for an Irish soldier convicted of rape has spoken of his heartbreak over causing “further hurt” to the victim.
An apologetic Brian Tierney has said he was “completely dumbstruck” when he learned the truth of the charges faced by the soldier, who was a former neighbour of his in Derry.
The former mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council resigned from the SDLP on Monday after apologising last week for a “huge error of judgement” in providing a reference for Kielan Mooney.
Mooney (30), of Derry’s Bloomfield Park, was sentenced at Dublin Central Criminal Court earlier this month after being convicted of three counts of raping a fellow member of the Irish Defence Forces at a Dublin hotel in July 2021, and one count of sexual assault.
He was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
Mr Tierney said he was not aware of the details of the charges faced by Mooney, and withdrew the reference upon learning what they were.
Mooney’s family have since apologised to Mr Tierney, and said in a statement issued though a solicitor: “The truth is that councillor Brian Tierney was misled into giving this character reference.”
The statement said Mr Tierney “provided a character reference at the request of our family – he wasn’t told that it related to a pending criminal charge and wasn’t told about the seriousness of those charges”.
“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,” the family spokesperson said.
In an interview with BBC Radio Foyle, which is to be broadcast in full on Thursday morning, Mr Tierney said: “I can hold my hand on my heart and tell you that I had no idea whatsoever, and when I did find out eventually via the internet I was completely dumbstruck.
“I have a lot of regrets over this - the biggest regret that I have is that me providing that reference unknowingly has caused further hurt to that poor, poor girl.
“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 to be against her, breaks my heart.”
A tearful Mr Tierney also spoke of his “deep remorse” at a council meeting on Wednesday, and said he had written to Mooney’s victim to apologise.
“I want to apologise to the council and each elected member in it for my actions,” he said.
“I should have checked the background of this story. There’s no doubt about that. I believed I was acting in good faith, I believed I was being told the truth, and I believed that there was no sign of any sexual violence when I provided that character reference.”
He continued: “I have no doubt that my actions in providing that reference caused extra undue hurt to her and her family.”
The councillor praised the “courage and bravery” of the victim, and added: “The anger that people have expressed...over this last number of days is not lost on me one single bit.”
Mr Tierney is now expected to sit as an independent member of Derry City and Strabane District Council pending an internal review of his membership by the SDLP.
He is the nephew of former Foyle SDLP MLA John Tierney, and is a senior staff member in the office of Foyle MP and former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.
