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Kirsten Mate MaherSource: Leon Farrell/Rollingnews.ieGARDAÍ IN KILKENNY are investigating an alleged incident of racial abuse involving the Rose of Tralee winner Kirsten Mate Maher.
An incident involving Waterford Rose Maher, who is of mixed race, and her boyfriend is alleged to have taken place in Kilkenny in the early hours of Sunday morning.
It's understood that the couple were buying food at a takeaway on John Street in the city at about 3am when they were accosted by two males who subjected her to racial abuse.
Gardaí were subsequently called and it's understood that statements were taken from all those present.
"Gardaí in Kilkenny are aware of an alleged incident that occurred in a fast food restaurant on John Street, Kilkenny on Sunday 26 August 2018 at approximately 3am," a Garda spokesperson said.
Inquiries are on going.
"Regrettably, Kirsten has been subjected to racial abuse from people in the past and it is something that she and many others in Ireland have to deal with on a regular basis," a spokesperson for the Rose of Tralee festival said.
As the Rose of Tralee, Kirsten intends to highlight the fact that society in Ireland is becoming more diverse and that there is no place for racism.
Maher emerged victorious at the 59th Rose of Tralee festival last week, becoming the first ever African Irish winner, and the third Waterford Rose to claim the title.
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Cianan, she’s not African-Irish. Africa is a continent, while Ireland is a country. Instead she is Zambian-Irish as the country of birth of her parents are known. I doubt the Zambian Times are calling her European-Zambian …
@also bemusing: Do you make the same comment on every US story referring to African-Americans?
@Steve B: He can’t because unfortunately the black Americans do not know exactly from which African country their ancestors were kidnapped from. Hence the term “African American.”
@also bemusing: well said.
@also bemusing: Ssshhh you mouldy rogue.
@Michael Fahy: WOW!! I dearly DEARLY hope you’re trying to be funny…….
@KerryBlueMike: good point.
@Tricia G: Why do you “Dearly hope” I’m trying to be funny? Of course my comment has been deleted by the Journal,free spech and all.
Dangerous places Takeaways unfortunately after Pubs and Clubs close best avoided . Many assualts in some areas the Takeaway closes just before the Pubs
@Andrew Byrne: frustrated young lads that didn’t get a sniff in the nightclub. I’ve been that young lad, some just can’t keep it together.
@Andrew Byrne: Look at the what The Kilkenny Journal is reporting. Incredibly they are blaming the poor girl. Easy to see why Kilkenny is considered the most racist town in Ireland. https://www.facebook.com/KilkennyJournal/
@John Longmore: that totally justifies it so John does it?
@Tyler Williams: “The Kilkenny Journal Yes, Margaretta, all she has succeeded in achieving from it all is making a show of Kilkenny city on a nationwide scale.
And there’ll be no charges, watch it, all her just selfishly wasting everybody’s time and giving us a bad name because her own drinking night on the town went wrong.”
@Bobbybrownshoes: I aint justifying a racial slur. I’m explaining what happens down the country in chippers after a feed of pints. I’m living in Dublin, down the country is a totally different story. That’s what I’m trying to get across, this bogman attitude. Interracial couples aren’t as common as in Dublin city. These bogmen need to change their attitude.
@everyone: and while I’m at it i will say this. I’m from the west. Living in Dublin, many people dont give Dublin the credit it deserves. Yes it has it dodgy areas, drug problems etc. Its multicultural society is what i love, and as a father of interracial kids i wouldn’t raise my kids in any other part of the country.
@Tyler Williams: The “Kilkenny Journal” seems to be a single lunatic looking for attention.
@Tyler Williams: I love his argument, as it makes absolutely no sense. He gives out about Kirsten giving a bad name to Kilkenny, while calling the John Street “Blood Street” multiple times in that little rant.
Too stupid to see the irony.
The Kilkenny Journal is run by one man , no staff whatsoever, everything on it is his own opinion, read some more of the articles and you’ll understand the type of person he is.
The Kilkenny Journal isn’t a real newspaper. His twitter bio says “Michael (Hated by the Pseudo Left) McGrath. Anti-Immigration- Pro Life & Free Press.”. So his point of view is fairly clear, its totally her own fault to him.
@John Longmore: Your ‘bogman’ analysis is nonsense. I lived in Dublin for many years up until recently and heard many a racial slur in my time there.
It was also often far more vicious then anything I’ve heard in rural Ireland.
@Tyler Williams: it’s a horrible hillbilly article
I’m very sorry for her and every other person that has to endure racial abuse here or anywhere else for that matter. Makes me feel very ashamed. I hope those two men who subjected her to the abuse are penalised heavily in some way to demonstrate that we will not tolerate such racism. Sadly I suspect the opposite will happen because I don’t believe the police or the government take racism seriously. I think it’s going to be a big big problem here unless the government get very proactive. Of course those who have to endure it on a daily basis will know it already is a big problem. I apologise sincerely to those people.
@Ivan Connolly: I have some Asian friends who were spat on walking down the street there recently, in the middle of the day!!! Its quickly getting a reputation for this behavior internationally also, news travels fast in this age. Backward idiots, because their economy relies hugely on tourism. Most racist town in Ireland is going to be a hard name to shake now
@Ivan Connolly: very well said Ivan and I totally agree with you, but if Your on this site regularly you will also have noticed the amount of racist commentators that like to hide behind silly made up screen names, while sprouting out all types of hatred to all minority groups, it’s disgusting the amount of racism that goes on here at times.
@John Longmore: When your first reaction is justify the behaviour (as you did above (lads after a nightclub not getting off with someone like it’s an entitlement!)) or go directly to an absurd argument re: “the internet” it’s obvious you’ve no interest in addressing the actual problem which is there is a minority in this country that are racist / xenophobic.
So yeah, your nonsense posts trying to troll or derail should be ignored.
@Ivan Connolly: At the very least have their name published in the media if found guilty.
@Ivan Connolly: I was wondering how long it would take for someone to say that it’s the governments fault.
Surprisingly typical for Kilkenny. I have a Muslim friend living there and he suffers abuse daily.
@Niall Lonergan: way to go Niall. Use of parocialisim to address a racial problem is hardly advised
@Niall Lonergan: Ahh come on Niall…..”typical”. Silly statement!
@Niall Lonergan: Look at the what The Kilkenny Journal is reporting. Incredibly they are blaming the poor girl. Easy to see why Kilkenny is considered the most racist town in Ireland. https://www.facebook.com/KilkennyJournal/
@Niall Lonergan: The Kilkenny Journal is not only blaming this girl for being racially abused but also now suggesting a recent rape victim was at fault also because she was walking down the street at night. Im not making this up, dont think Ill ever be visiting Kilkenny…wow just wow…
“The Kilkenny Journal Any woman drunk in John Street at 3 AM is recklessly placing herself in a very dangerous situation, that’s why there are never any others there.
” If you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas”
And if you frequent the places drunks do then you are in fact and in truth just begging for trouble yourself.
Happily the garda assisted her in getting home and all is well.”
@Tyler Williams: That’s disgraceful!
@Tyler Williams: looks legitimate enough
3am on a Sunday morning, you can be assured that the two blokes where langers. I Condemn racism, but please this does not call for news headlines. Blowing a small incident out of proportion to try and create turmoil and leading the people to think Ireland has a racism problem. Ireland does not have a racism problem
@Nick Cassidy: were you there to know what abuse she was subjected to? Very easy for a white male to say racism in Ireland doesn’t exist when you are never going to experience it.
@EillieEs: so why did you just point me out as a white male, what has that got to do with it. you see, theres the problem, people like you classifying people by colour and the assumption that white people still hold privilege, which is actually bull. you go to any hospitals and most doctors and nurses and highly skilled individuals are foreign, need I saw more.
@Nick Cassidy: Well said Nick
@Nick Cassidy: so because ‘highly skilled’ foreigners work in hospitals,that then means that ‘white privilege’ is now obsolete…k
@Nick Cassidy: of course it calls for headlines! She’s the Rose of Tralee, ya mad thing. And Ireland does have a racism problem. The comment sections on the Journal alone is cause for concern. Anti-immigration and sentiments of “get our own house in order before we accept any more of THEM” abound. It’s shameful and needs to be highlighted at any given opportunity – and this incident is one of them.
The Kilkenny Journal probably had one of their “reporters” on the scene ……*goes to check*
@Tom Doyle: f
@Tom Doyle: the Kilkenny journal is just a cess pool of hate and ignorance, he is already blaming the poor girl for being racially abused and she is wasting time reporting this
@briewee: Easy to see why Kilkenny is considered the most racist town in Ireland. https://www.facebook.com/KilkennyJournal/
@briewee: Apparently it would have been her fault if she’d been raped too. Jaw-dropping stuff in that article.
@Tyler Williams: I live in Kilkenny and it’s has great people here that are tarnished by the few as*holes that live here. It’s muppets like the Kilkenny journal that causes a lot of issues his Facebook page should be banned.
Embarrassing neanderthals.
@chinaski: That is derisive to Neanderthals; who findings have shown were able to maintain a semblance of decency towards one another, despite their inability to vocalise properly due to how their epiglottitis developed. Nope this ugliness is pure homo sapiens.
It’s unfortunate that a few eejits with a belly full of beer give the locality a bad name. Just name & shame them & let people including their families & employers know the way they carry on. I feel sorry that people are still this backward in 2018.
@Danny McCarthy:
Yup.
If only to name them there should be a prosecution and a few pictures in the papers as they try slink in and out of a court – not that you could expect much in the way of judicial punishment in this thugs’ wonderland we seem to have created.
Hirers google names!
@Michael Kavanagh: was the incident confirmed yet? It’s still only alleged.
More than likely the Employees of the Take away also had abuse hurled at them only after feeding the drunken low life’s ”Young People of Ireland We Love you as the Pope might say !
Take the tourism out of Kilkenny and you have a rough enough towns people
@dick dastardly: Not so, Kilkenny is one of the least rough CITIES in Ireland!
And who is to say that it was Kilkenny people who racially abused Kirsten? They could have been from anywhere!
Kilkenny was voted the friendliest city in Europe a few years ago!
Kilkenny is only a town with a castle and a few dainty streets along it’s way,nothing else
@Mary Walshe: Kilkenny town is a back water with so little going for it that they have to keep plugging the castle – remember it is only known as a “city” because the local council bribed a lad 200 years ago – also it is NOT one of the 5 cities legistislatively covered by the Oireachtas.
@Mary Walshe: Simpley not true, Kilkenny is one of the roughest towns in Ireland. My Asian friends were spat at walking through the middle of Kilkenny recently. A group of middle aged people literally spat in their faces and told them to “go back to their own country” Sadly, I have also heard of numerous similar stories. Whatever about being voted the friendliest city in Europe a few years ago it is now considered the most racist town in Ireland and news travels fast. I’ve never been to Kilkenny but by all accounts the locals seem very backward and ‘tough’ Even ‘The Kilkenny Journal’ is openly racist this morning saying the girl was to blame and the same publications Facebook page is a gathering point for literally thousands of Kilkenny racists idiots free to air their views. Pathetic excuses for humans.
@Tyler Williams: If you’ve never been there, you’re only going on anecdotal evidence which is hardly comprehensive or objective. That page is the work of two people and is well known as such; it’s not anything approaching a reputable news outlet. It may have 6k ‘likes’, but given the number of fake profiles on Facebook and the fact that it doesn’t list the names & locations of those who have liked it, it’s a massive stretch to say that it’s a gathering point for ‘literally thousands of Kilkenny racists’.
I’ve been there plenty of times, it’s no worse than any other Irish town of comparable size. There’s bound to be racists there, as there are everywhere, but it’s nowhere near the epicentre of Irish racism as you’d claim. You’d at least want to visit the place before passing judgement.
@Tyler Williams: “I’ve never been to Kilkenny but”…. Shut your cakehole then. This type of thing goes on in every town and city in this country, we have a racism issue here like it or not. I call bs on the spitting in the face story tho. Knob.
@Tyler Williams: jaysus man calm down on kilkenny I’m a dub I’ve been going on breaks there for years never seen any fights, racism or anything. Just pleasant people. If you have not been there yourself you can’t really judge the place.
@Dlow Brown: his posts are weird, some anti Kilkenny stuff going on. I’ve lived in Kilkenny before, great town. A bit mental on a Saturday night, but that’s the influx of revellers, stags etc. And gangs of Muppets every town. I’ve lived/worked in several same sized towns, portlaoise, athlone, clonmel…. Kilkenny the least “rough” as this weirdo would say..
Even wearing the wrong GAA shirt could get you a busted eye in KK!
@Dotty Dunleary: I walked down john st wearing a tipp jersey a few years ago.. think John McClain in Harlem in die hard 3..
@Dotty Dunleary: and that could be a Kilkenny club shirt you could be wearing. It even another county.
@Donal Carroll: to be fair wearing a Tipp jersey anywhere should be a criminal offense.
I genuinely struggle to comprehend how racism is still an issue. That applies to any discrimination against any race. Why any person looks at a person of a different race or from a different nation as lesser is unfathomable.
6 months hard labour. That would stamp out racism overnight. Two milk sops out spending the government’s money on vodka andRed Bulls and a few lines of cocaine and suddenly they forget that they are the dregs of society and believe they have the right to ruin someone’s night out. Name and shame.
While that Rose may have experienced racist abuse(allegedly) because of her skin colour, she also won the Rose of Tralee because of her skin colour – let’s call a spade a spade! So forgive me if I don’t feel too sorry for a beautiful, intelligent, popular, young woman who has doors open for her everywhere she goes. I’d sooner focus my sympathy on the suicidal elderly white male small farmer that no-one cares about. Oh … And I was punched, unprovoked, at a small town after hours chipper and there’s no ‘allegedly’ about it. Not only did it not get media coverage, I didn’t even get satisfaction from the Gardai. Small town after hours chippers usually contain the drunken dregs of society all concentrated into one place at one time, and they are not representative of Ireland on the whole. Now I wish the racialist media would f … off and stop lecturing us about how horrible we are. Why does a kind act by a white person never make the main headlines?!
KilKKKenny
I rather suspect this is the same kind of nonsense the late great Phil Lynott had to endure? Personally, I love Kilkenny and I know some mighty fine folk there! :-)
There was something about this years ROT (rose of tralee) which ordinary people can see. The girl was put on a pedestal by the cultural Marxists in RTE as a symbol of multi-cultural new Ireland. As usual they work anonymously and are full of pious sympathy when the conflict they have set up emerges.
By the way and not detracting from the nastiness of the KK event – the movement of the betting odds on the ROT in the week before, were the worthy of a Tribunal of Enquiry.
These guys need to be named, photographed and shamed. They are a disgrace to society and need to get an education in multiculturalism. The fact that the lady is Irish probably never even occurred to them.
In fairness, no need for the verbal rant at her, no matter what time of day it is or where she is – it shouldn’t happen and its only proper that its highlighted
Too little acceptance of diversity in our society for my liking and blaming victims is absolutely shameless
I concur with Kirsten. As someone who has in the past lived, worked and travelled abroad, I was spat at, hissed at, had cigarettes thrown at me along with the vilest verbal abuse. There is no place for this behaviour in a modern society.
Unbelievable. So sad for her.
ever notice the racist people you encounter are usually loud mouth “lads” or people from “working class” areas?
@James O Carroll: Yes I notice. The question is why? Because diversity and multi-culture is forced on them ? By a section of society which regards them as loud mouth working class?
Lucky to get out alive out of a lot of chippers in Ireland at 3.00 in the morning never mind racial abuse !
Only drunk people out in choppers at that hour ! I think people need to cop on grin and bear it. Everybody get things said to them
Unfortunately only the coloured and blacks can complain. Any small racial abuse thrown at a million a week soccer player and he goes weak at the knees – come on its ridiculous !
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