UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK’S students’ union is “deeply concerned” by reported harassment of a student at the campus. 

The Dáil was told this week how a Whatsapp group of 200 young men was created to target the young woman, Ella Deasy, and that she endured a campaign of harassment that included having eggs pelted at her on-campus accommodation.

“Frighteningly, they knew not only the house number but the room in which she was living and they congregated at the back of the house outside her window shouting and chanting,” Sinn Féin’s Mairéad Farrell told TDs in the course of a debate on gender-based violence this week.

“She reported this to the accommodation provider but nothing was done at that point.

“This continued the following night with doorbells ringing in the middle of the night, eggs being thrown at the door and yoghurt being put on the door handle.

“This continued on over a number of nights. It escalated to attempts to kick in her door. There is no other way of putting this other than to say that this is an incredibly frightening experience.

“When I heard this story, I found it deeply concerning. What really stuck me was the fact that there was a WhatsApp group with over 200 young men discussing, viewing or participating in it.

“As Ella said, just imagine 200 boys against one girl.”  

Deasy is no longer a student at UL and has carved out a career as a social media influencer, with a following of 190,000 on TikTok.

The students’ union said the behaviour described in the Dáil “undermines the values of respect, inclusion and safety that every member of the UL community should be entitled to expect”. 

The union, known as UL Student Life, said it no longer has full confidence “in how the situation was addressed”. 

It said any existing students should approach the union for independent and confidential assistance, if and when needed.

A spokesperson for the university told the Irish Examiner this week that it takes concerns about student welfare extremely seriously. 

“A number of increased mitigation measures can be used to ensure the safety and security of our students including increased security patrols, house meetings with security and village management, follow-up welfare checks and, where necessary, relocation,” they said.