Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary has issued a grovelling apology for previously comparing competitor airlines to “rapists”.
During a video message shared today, he said the comment caused “considerable upset and offence” in a video message on Friday.
Previously, Mr O’Leary said some were “desperate to get to Ryanair’s low fares because they can’t afford to ly with the high-fare rapists around Europe”.
Rachel Morrogh, the head of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, demanded a “swift apology to survivors of rape and sexual violence”.
The Irish airline chief went on to defend his comments, refusing to apologise.
In a letter to Ms Morragh just last week, he said: “I was asked what I thought of rape, and answered that it was a heinous crime.
“I was also asked if describing high fare competitor airlines as high fare rapists somehow trivialised the crime of rape, and I was clear in my view that it did not.
“You are entirely free to hold a different opinion. But since I clearly did not trivialise the heinous crime of rape, I will certainly not be issuing any apology.”
But, just a week later, Mr O’Leary has decided to apologise.
Ms Morrogh claimed Ireland’s National Rape Crisis Helpline had received an uptick in the number of calls from rape victims left “upset and distressed” by Mr O’Leary’s “lazy” comments.
She added: “We have enough work to be doing and survivors have enough trauma to face without lazy comments adding to it.
“I can’t imagine that you would ever use the term so flippantly again if you truly understood what it was like to survive rape.”
MORE TO FOLLOW…
