UL student targeted in harassment campaign by 200 men after TikTok video

This week, Ms Deasy shared that a young man who had previously posted about egging her house saw her on moving day, after which the situation escalated.

A group chat of 200 men, including UL students, was created, which she said had the intent of destroying her accommodation.

Ms Deasy, who has over 190k TikTok followers, posted four videos describing the abuse.

She recalled: “I think it was half four in the morning, two boys were screaming my name outside my bedroom window. It wasn't even outside the house, it was actually the back of the house. So they knew exactly which bedroom was mine.” 

After emailing UL’s Student Accommodation Service, she was told nothing could be done and that posting online had made her a target.

“Later that day, I went to collect a package from the student accommodations office, and I was basically told it was my fault. That there was nothing they could do about it.” 

After another incident, she woke up to find eggs thrown at her house and yoghurt spread on the door handle. She complained but was told she would “have to pay to get the house cleaned.” 

Speaking of the group chat created to target her, she said: “The boys of Kilmurry had a group chat, but then it turned into a group chat where they all wanted to destroy my house. There was 200 boys in this group chat, so just imagine 200 boys against one girl.” 

Ms Deasy reported the incidents to the Gardaí.

On another occasion, young men “tried to kick the door in”, rang the doorbell, and egged her house. By the time security arrived 20 minutes later, they were gone.

“The gardai were there 10 minutes later when boys came back again and actually ended up catching 10 of them, putting them in the car. Taking their names, etc.” 

She thought it was over, but more young men came back—this time “throwing bottles of vodka.” 

“Basically anything that their parents had probably spent money on throughout the week to give them for college was just thrown at my house and my bedroom window and the front door. I was still awake at that stage because I genuinely don't think I slept that night at all.” 

After repeated complaints to accommodation services with “nothing done,” she contacted UL’s President and was moved to another residence within ten minutes.

“I was told that the situation would be rectified and something would be done and the investigation would be taken further by UL. And I genuinely don't think anything was done, I think these boys just got away with it. It is harassment at the end of the day, and nothing was done about it.” 

Ms Deasy later dropped out, although she said it wasn’t solely due to the harassment.

Although, she noted: “I don't think it helped that what had happened to me week one. I think it ruined my college experience altogether.” 

In an email to students, UL Provost Professor Ann Ledwith expressed “dismay” over student safety concerns.

“As the mother of three daughters, I am really dismayed at issues of student safety that I have seen raised on social media, in media and in Dáil Éireann in recent days. I want to assure you that we take these issues and the welfare of all our students extremely seriously,” Ms Ledwith said.

“We are committed to getting a full understanding of what happened in the recently reported incident, how our systems reacted and how we can ensure any similar occurrences are effectively and promptly dealt with in the future.” 

She also reminded students of the importance of “making an official report of any incidence of intimidation or harassment in order that we can then deal with these issues appropriately through the correct channels”.

In a statement sent to the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson for UL said: “University of Limerick is aware of incidents of anti-social behaviour at an on-campus student residence early in the academic year but cannot comment on individual circumstances.

“Any concerns about student welfare are taken 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 also added: “There is a 24-hour security presence on the campus, including patrols across residences, and all students are made aware of this.

“The Village Management teams regularly meet with residents to remind them of how to escalate incidents to Campus Security and how to access support from the Village Management as required.”