ONE OF THE women at the Corrib gaspipe protest towards whom rape remarks were apparently directed by gardai is to waive her anonymity at a press conference this morning.

The woman is to speak to reporters at Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin at 11.30am. A Shell to Sea campaign spokesperson told TheJournal.ie this morning that the woman had taken the decision to reveal her identity because she had been warned that it was being leaked by gardai to the media.

Spokesperson Caoimhe Kerins said:

The reason that she will waive her anonymity is that we have been warned that the names and addresses of the two women have been leaked by gardai to the media and that the Sunday papers were going to report on them. One of the women is not in a position to have her anonymity lifted so this woman is stepping forward. We’re hoping that this will allow her to speak on her own terms.

The Garda press office told TheJournal.ie that it would be making no comment on the claims of a leak while two investigations were ongoing into the circumstances surrounding the video tape and rape remarks.

The women are to make a formal complaint today to the Garda Ombudsman over their treatment by gardai.

The Shell to Sea group and the woman will also be calling for an independent international inquiry, not just into the tape, but into the entire policing of the protests around the Corrib gas protest. Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins will be one of the speakers at today’s conference and will be backing the call for an inquiry.

Kerins added that the inquiry should be held into what she called the “the culture of impunity” in the policing of the Corrib project.

“This has to be the end of the way these protests are being policed,” she said.

Keep checking in with TheJournal.ie for updates on this story throughout the day>