Irish police investigate rape claim against 'sports star' in Dublin

Irish police are investigating a claim that a prominent sports star raped a young woman in a hotel in Dublin city centre.

Detectives from Pearse Street Garda station are investigating the alleged assault, which is said to have happened between midnight and 2am on Monday.

The woman reportedly filed a complaint to police at about midday on Monday and was later taken to the sexual assault treatment unit at the Rotunda hospital in the capital.

Irish media reported that the alleged victim had been socialising in the city centre on Sunday night and accompanied the alleged perpetrator, said to be a well-known Irish sportsman, to a hotel room.

A Garda spokesperson issued a brief statement on Tuesday: “Gardaí at Pearse Street, Dublin 2 are investigating an alleged sexual assault on a female which occurred in Dublin 2 in the early hours of Monday 10 December 2018. No arrests have been made and investigations are continuing. We have no further update.”

The statement did not indicate whether the alleged suspect, who has not been named, had been questioned.