Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary has refused to apologise after he was accused of trivialising rape.
The billionaire was heavily criticised by victims’ groups and politicians in both Ireland and the UK after he said this week it was “absolutely” appropriate to compare competitor airlines to “rapists”.
He was urged to offer a “swift apology” by the chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), Rachel Morrogh, who said he had trivialised rape.
Ms Morrogh had written to Mr O’Leary to offer him free training on sexual violence and the impact it has on people who experienced it.
In a published responding letter on Friday, Mr O’Leary said he had described rape as a “heinous crime” when speaking to the media on Thursday.
The phrase he had used on Thursday when asked if his comments were offensive to rape and sexual assault victims was “terrible crime”.
In the letter on Friday, the airline chief said: “Since I certainly did not trivialise the heinous crime of rape, I will certainly not be issuing any apology or accepting your offer of training.”
He said comments from the DRCC that his remarks “perpetuate dismissive attitudes to survivors of rape” were “both false and defamatory”, adding that he “clearly asserted” that rape is a heinous crime and “accordingly its survivors are victims of a heinous crime”.
Elsewhere on Friday, the UK Transport Secretary said Mr O’Leary’s comparison of other airlines to “rapists” will have lost his company the confidence of women who have been subject to sexual assault.
Heidi Alexander was asked for her thoughts on Mr O’Leary’s comments, which have already drawn condemnation from Ireland’s deputy premier.
Ms Alexander told LBC: “I’ve learnt in this job in the last two years that Mr O’Leary is often quick to share his considered thoughts with me and with the wider world.
“I would say that women who have been raped and who have been subjected to such appalling violence, I’m not sure they’re going to be rushing to book tickets with him, let’s be honest.”
Mr O’Leary made the comment ahead of his airline’s annual general meeting in Dublin on Thursday.
He claimed rising air travel prices at other airlines would see passengers switch to Ryanair.
He told reporters at the company’s headquarters: “You might find some people will choose not to fly with Ryanair – but you know they’ll be overrun with the people abandoning Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, BA, and others desperate to get to Ryanair’s low fares because they can’t afford to fly with the high-fare rapists around Europe.”
He later repeated the “high-fare rapists” comments.
Asked by the Press Association whether this was appropriate language, Mr O’Leary told reporters: “Absolutely.”
He later said rape was a “terrible crime” but rejected the assertion he was trivialising rape.
Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Harris said the comments were “clearly an inappropriate use of language” and Mr O’Leary “should have moved to rectify it”.
Asked if he should apologise, Mr Harris told reporters at his Fine Gael party think-in: “I think he should listen to the experts and there’s been many out today.”
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