Gerry O’Mahony: From boxing heavyweight to convicted sex offender

He did not inform the IABA that he had been charged. 

Instead, he continued to carry out his official functions.

He did not inform his own club that he had been charged. 

He continued to carry out public engagements in the club. 

He appeared on the local media in that capacity. 

As such, he continued in a position of trust in which he would have had access to younger people.

At his trial last October, the court heard that he was a trusted figure in his victim’s life and he employed her at a work premises. 

She had known him since her early teens and he had often supplied her with alcohol when she was underage.

She was still a teenager when he sexually assaulted her sometime between January 2009 and December 2010.

The trial heard that one night when she was waiting for a lift home from him, O’Mahony gave her a drink after which she felt dazed. 

“I just felt very drowsy all of a sudden,” she told the court. 

She lost consciousness and when she came to, she saw that her underwear, pants, and boots had been removed. 

O'Mahony was performing oral sex on her without her consent.

In September 2021, the victim saw a social media post made by O’Mahony where he was advertising his candidacy for president of the IABA. 

The post referenced the virtues of respect and dignity. 

“It boiled my blood,” she told the trial. 

She made a complaint to the gardaí in 2021. 

O’Mahony denied the charge but the jury believed the victim and he was convicted on October 31.

Some months after he was initially charged in Dungarvan last year, his case was referred to the Circuit Criminal Court for trial by jury on the basis that it was too serious to be dealt with by the district court.

O’Mahony did not at that point inform the IABA or his own club about the charge. 

He continued to carry out his functions.

In May 2024, a year after he was charged, it was announced that O’Mahony would attend the Olympic Games in Paris “to represent the Irish boxing family”. 

He and another individual would be “the first ever IABA ambassadors in recognition of their long and vital service to boxing, and the boxing community, at home and abroad”. 

Irish boxing was sending one of its largest contingents in 60 years to the games, with high hopes of medals.

On the first weekend in June, the IABA’s final line up for the games was confirmed with four boxers winning their qualification rounds in Bangkok to bring the total representation to a record-equalling 10 boxers. 

Following the victories, O’Mahony released a statement saying he was delighted for all the fighters involved.

“It’s a big day for Irish boxing, a big day for every club in Ireland, it gives them something to aspire to,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. 

“It’s absolutely fantastic for all the kids who boxed out there and the ones who didn’t make it, it wasn’t for want of trying. They gave it their all and we’re very proud of all of them.” 

As things stood, O’Mahony would have had a prominent role on the world sporting stage, representing Ireland and Irish boxing.

The following week, the Irish Examiner became aware of the charge against O’Mahony. 

We contacted him.

At first, he feigned ignorance of the charge but when details were put to him he admitted it to be the case.

“I don’t follow the relevance of it,” he said. 

“A person can accuse another person of anything and you don’t just give up. I can’t see what difference it makes to anybody.” 

He wouldn’t say whether he had informed the IABA of the charge. 

“People in the IABA have good time for me,” he said. 

“I wouldn’t damage the IABA in any form but I’m not saying whether I told anybody or not.” 

The Irish Examiner contacted the chair of IABA, Niall O’Carroll, who confirmed he had been unaware of the matter and that it had not been discussed at board level. 

“It’s important to point out that Gerry’s role is as a volunteer and it is an elected role, but he is not a member of staff or paid in any way by the IABA, it’s purely a volunteer position as an elected member,” he told the Irish Examiner.

The following day, O’Mahony stepped aside from his role and said he would not be travelling to Paris. 

Despite widespread reporting of the charge in the media following the Irish Examiner report, O’Mahony continued to be a prominent figure in his local club. 

On June 28, he refereed a charity boxing match at the club, an event which attracted a huge crowd. 

He was photographed at the events in jovial mood with other members and the photos were widely distributed on social media.

His status through all this time was of an innocent man as he had not yet stood trial. 

He told the Irish Examiner that he had taken advice that assured him there was no requirement for him to make his status known to anybody ahead of a trial at the very least.

Legally that was the case, but there was nothing preventing him informing the IABA that he wished to step aside, even temporarily.

In cases of sexual assault, the accused is generally not named. 

Under the Criminal Law Act 1981, the accused and the complainant cannot be named prior to any conviction. 

This is to protect both the accused in the event that he or she is found not guilty and the complainant who has a right to protect their anonymity. 

If and when an accused is convicted, the complainant can waive their anonymity or request that the identity of the convicted person be revealed. 

All of this is soundly based.

The law thus meant that O’Mahony was in a position to carry on with his public duties in a sport he professed to love while this cloud hung over him. 

Apart from anything else, his appearances in the media and at public events on social media could not have been easy on his victim who, like all victims of sexual abuse, had to travel a long, hard road to get the matter before a criminal court.

At the sentencing hearing, his victim gave a powerful impact statement in which she outlined how her life had been devastated since the assault. 

It was “a shadow that followed me daily, making me feel weak and incapable. I have lost so many years of turmoil I will never regain,” she told the court. 

Gerry O’Mahony was sentenced to four years in prison with the final nine months suspended. 

He has been in custody since his conviction.