Ryanair main enforcement Michael O'Leary has refused to apologise to a rape situation centre which criticised him for describing rival airlines arsenic "high-fare rapists".
Speaking to journalists, O'Leary said immoderate radical were "desperate to get to Ryanair's debased fares due to the fact that they can't spend to alert with the high-fare rapists astir Europe".
O'Leary doubled-down connected his prime of words erstwhile asked astir them astatine the time, and aboriginal refused to apologise erstwhile the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) wrote to him asking for apology, successful a missive seen by the BBC.
Ireland's lawman premier Simon Harris said it was "clearly an inappropriate usage of language" and that O'Leary "should person moved to rectify it".
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told UK vigor outlet LBC that victims of rape are "not going to beryllium rushing to publication tickets with him, let's beryllium honest".
O'Leary made the comments connected Thursday portion talking to journalists up of Ryanair's yearly gathering with shareholders.
Asked by a newsman from the Press Association whether the connection was appropriate, helium said: "Absolutely."
"British Airways, Lufthansa, and everybody else's precocious fares, I'll happily offend them connected a regular basis," helium added.
Asked whether it would offend intersexual battle victims, helium said rape was "a unspeakable crime".
Following O'Leary's comments, the DRCC's main enforcement Rachel Morrogh wrote to O'Leary accusing him of trying to get a header with his comments.
She said the DRCC had received calls from rape victims who were "upset and distressed due to the fact that of what you said".
She offered O'Leary grooming connected the interaction of intersexual unit and urged him to apologise.
"I can't ideate you would ever usage the word truthful flippantly again if you genuinely understood [what] it was similar to past rape," she wrote.
In response, O'Leary said: "I americium rather wide that nary remarks of excavation could perchance trivialise the heinous transgression of rape."
He added that arsenic helium had not "trivialised the heinous transgression of rape" helium would "not beryllium issuing immoderate apology oregon accepting your connection of training".
It is not the archetypal clip O'Leary has offended radical portion talking astir his business.
In 2004, helium reportedly called the owners of Stansted Airport "a clump of overcharging rapists", external successful a enactment implicit airdrome charges.
He has besides antecedently called immoderate of his ain unit "lazy bastards" and erstwhile said to passengers looking for a refund "we don't privation to perceive your sob stories".
In June, helium said the hose would "reluctantly" halt charging parents to beryllium adjacent to children aft a watchdog probe was opened, but insisted its erstwhile argumentation complied with laws.
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