Was mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor sued for sexual assault in a personal injury civil case after declaring his interest in running for president of Ireland? No, that's not true: A post alleging a connection between the civil lawsuit and McGregor's political ambitions misled readers about the timeline of the events. The civil lawsuit was filed in 2021, years before McGregor spoke about his interest in running for president of Ireland. It was decided, in favor of the woman who brought the case, in November 2024.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on November 29, 2024. It opened:
Conor McGregor announced he was running for President of Ireland, and they immediately found him "Liable" for the Sexual Assault of a Woman SIX years ago.
This has all the hallmarks of a RIGGED TRIAL. They want to prevent him from becoming President and SAVING Ireland!
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Dec 2 19:41:31 2024 UTC)
On November 22, 2024, days before the X post's publication, a civil court jury in Dublin decided (archived here) the outcome of a lawsuit filed by Nikita Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, against McGregor. According to news accounts, the woman was awarded (archived here) close to 250,000 euros ($257,000) in compensation for the events, which she described as a sexual assault, that took place on December 9, 2018, at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin.
McGregor expressed his interest in running for president of Ireland twice: in December 2023 (archived here) and in September 2024 (archived here).
However, as seen in Ireland's High Court online database (screenshot below), the civil case decided on November 22, 2024, was filed in 2021. Thus, it predates both instances when McGregor posted about his presidential ambitions on X.
(Source: Courts.ie screenshot taken on Mon Dec 2 19:36:17 2024 UTC)
Before the civil lawsuit, Hand's case had been investigated as a criminal matter (archived here) by the Irish national police known as the Garda Síochána or the gardai, but in 2020, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution made a decision not to bring charges (archived here).
When asked by Lead Stories to identify the time frame of the criminal investigation, the Garda declined to comment "on named individuals" via email on December 2, 2024.
Lead Stories reached out for additional information and comments to the Media Relations Office at Ireland's Courts Service and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution but didn't receive an immediate response.
Other Lead Stories fact checks mentioning McGregor can be found here. Stories about sports are here.
