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Natasha O’Brien announced as Goss.ie Woman of the Year 2024
Natasha O’Brien was announced as Goss.ie Woman of the Year 2024 at the media company’s awards night on Saturday, October 5. Photo Brian McEvoy via Goss.ie
Limerick activist, Natasha O’Brien has received an award of special recognition at the third annual Goss.ie Women of the Year Awards on Saturday, October 5
Limerick activist, Natasha O’Brien has received an award of special recognition at the third annual Goss.ie Women of the Year Awards on Saturday, October 5 recognising her advocacy over the previous year.
Natasha’s story gained national attention following a public attack in 2022 which left her unconscious and being found guilty, her attacker received a three-year suspended which sparked public outrage and debate about the treatment of women in the legal system.
Natasha was applauded for turning her experience into a platform for change by advocating for women’s safety while demanding accountability.
On receiving the award, Natasha said, “I don’t feel like this is for me, this woman of the year, this is not me. I feel like I’m merely a vessel. I’m merely just a voice for so many women, all women.
“When I’m trying to put myself forward and Say what needs to be said and push those boundaries and push for evolution and change because we all deserve it.
“To get a little bit serious, femicide is a real, real issue, especially in Ireland. To say Ashling Murphy was brutally murdered three months before I was attacked, you look at that and when you come away with your life from something like that you look at the women that didn’t and don’t have a voice now because they were not as fortunate as I was.”
The Goss Woman of The Year said this perspective following her attack filled her “with so much appreciation for this tiny little life that we all have”.
She said, “It just makes me want to do everything I possibly can to push myself and strive for better, and be that voice that so many women don’t have.”
Paying tribute to the crowd at the event, Natasha said seeing it was incredible to see “so many amazing women” adding, “We are all amazing and we are all so fierce and brave and we feed it to each other.”
She urged the crowd to continue having the difficult conversation, she said, “While these conversations can be difficult and we can go into very sensitive issues and places that are difficult for us to touch; I want to break that boundary.”
“I want to kind of prove that these conversations aren’t difficult, they’re really easy,” said Natasha, adding that people should “open up and whatever it’s in your gut, just go with it”.
Goss.ie Founder and CEO Alexandra Ryan said Natasha’s bravery led to “hundreds and thousands of people in Ireland” taking to the streets and marching in O’Brien’s name “demanding better from our justice system, better from our government, and better from men”.
The Goss.ie CEO said, “Her case highlighted the many wrongs in our society, specifically focused on how a woman’s safety seems to come secondary to a man’s career.
“At the end of 2022 Natasha was attacked in public by Cathal Crotty, who was an active Irish soldier, a man who was meant to protect us. Her assailant walked free from court this year, despite being found guilty of beating her unconscious in a ‘vicious’ attack.
“Over the last year Natasha has continued to use her platform, her voice, to demand better, to force us all to accept the reality women live in today. Women’s lives are more important than a man’s job, than a man’s reputation, while many in society still don’t believe this, she is continuing to remind us that this issue must be tackled in order for women in this country to be believed, to be understood, and to overall… be safe.”