Truth Social

Previously, Mr O’Leary said some were “desperate to get to Ryanair’s low fares because they can’t afford to fly with the high-fare rapists around Europe”.

Following the initial comments, Mr O’Leary was hit with a deluge of damning criticism from politicians in Ireland as well as across the UK for the “flippant” comments.

In a video message posted online, Mr O’Leary said he apologised “sincerely and unreservedly” to people, especially victims of sexual violence and rape.

He said: “Last week at a press conference in Dublin, I used the term rapists to described the high fares of our competitor airlines.

“I was quizzed by the press if I was trivialising rape,” he told Virgin Media News on Friday.

“I replied by asserting my firm belief that rape is a heinous and terrible crime which cannot be trivialised.s.

|

PA

“I believe I couldn’t have been clearer in this regard.

“In conversations with family and friends, both inside and outside Ryanair, over the last 10 days, I have come to realise, however, that the word I used so carelessly has caused considerable upset and offence to a wide number of people, especially victims and survivors.

“I want to apologise, sincerely and unreservedly to those people, especially to the survivor

“I am truly sorry for the offence and upset I have caused you by my careless use of those words. It won’t happen again.

|

PA

“I will try to learn from this mistake and do better in the future. Thank you.”

Mr O’Leary was also condemned by a number of charities supporting the survivors of sexual abuse.

Last week, 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 decided to apologise following discussions with his friends and family.

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.”

She further accused the airline boss of wanting to get media attention, and told him: “I wanted to let you know that you got the headline at a price rape survivors had to pay.”

Last week, Mr O’Leary also refused an offer of “training on sexual violence and the impact it has on people who have experienced it”.

He claimed Ms Morragh’s claims were “false and defamatory”.